They have finally broken ground on the old abandoned Verizon building on Ocean Boulevard, which you may have noticed if you have driven by over the last week or so. For what must be well over a decade the Verizon building located at 200 West Ocean has been vacant creating a sizeable dark spot along Ocean Blvd and a place for vagrants to hide. The recently released renderings look great. From what I understand it seems like there will be mostly residential units, some office/creative space, and retail on the first floor. Penthouses will also be built on the top floor like the Edison and Insurance Exchange.
This news is excellent for Ocean Blvd residents, especially those residing on West Ocean Blvd in the West Ocean and Camden communities because it will help fill in the gap and light up the street at night. We need the connectivity with Pine and East Ocean. I am also pleased to see they are using Long Beach-based Studio One Eleven to do the design. Here is a link to read an article with more information on the project: http://www.longbeachize.com/fresh-renderings-released-for-adpative-reuse-residential-project-in-downtown-long-beach
In summary, this is fantastic news for anyone who owns real estate on Ocean Blvd or is thinking of buying on the Ocean Corridor. It is a significant trend that is taking place along the Ocean Corridor that will outlast this real estate cycle. Once these holes are filled in it will take Long Beach's Ocean Blvd up to the next level as a great place to live and spend time.
