April 8, 2025 • 9 mins
🚧 Long Beach to Demolish 3 Vacant Properties – But What’s Next?
Three city-owned properties in Long Beach are finally getting demolished after years of neglect, crime, and break-ins. But what happens next? The city had BIG plans for these lots – including a North Village redevelopment project – but now those dreams are dead.
💰 Now, under California law, the land must first be offered for affordable housing. But how long will that take? Are we looking at another 10-year dead project before anything actually happens?
📌 In this episode, we discuss:
• Why these demolitions are necessary 🔥
• How Long Beach lost another major redevelopment project
• Will this land ACTUALLY be used for housing?
• What’s the best use of these properties for the city’s future?
👉 Join the discussion! Should these lots become housing, businesses, or something else?
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Stuart - All In Long Beach:
I mean, let's be real here. (00:00):
undefined
(00:01):
I'm going to assume that thiscould be a decade long project,
maybe a year or two ofgoing through processes,
to see if there's any competitive bids
getting the approval from the state,going and saying, no, this isn't right
and change orders and back and forthonly to have it fall through again.
And then, next thing you know,we wake up ten years later and we
(00:21):
still have these three empty lots
Announcer (00:24):
All in Long Beach, we're breaking it down.
News and events from all around town.
Business, politics, lifestyle too.
Food and fun, we bring it to you.
Stuart - All In Long Beach: And welcome to the all in Long (00:39):
undefined
Beach podcast Stuart Takahara
here your host Of the all in longbeach podcast and today a new
article came out in the long beachpost It says long beach to demolish
three vacant city owned properties.
These buildings have been languishingwith break ins and fires And creating
nuisances for neighbors and I wentthrough this article and I've got to
(01:02):
say, I, I think this is the right move.
I think this is exactly what we needto be doing with these buildings
that are being occupied by squattersthat are not safe, that people are
breaking into that are just eyesores.
I think these are the right decisions.
Now there's three properties.
One of them is near Poly high school andthe other two are in North Long Beach.
(01:23):
But what was really sad about thisis I was kind of going through the.
Article here are the two propertiesthat were up in North Long Beach were
supposed to have been going to developa property that was part of the North
village redevelopment plan, and it wassupposed to have housing and retails and
(01:44):
restaurants and gallery space, and it was.
It's run by this place called L.
A.
B.
Inc.
I don't know if that's Lab Inc.
or what it is, but, um, they, , builtthe Anti Mall in Costa Mesa.
They were also part of theAnaheim Packing District.
And if you've never been to theAnaheim Packing District, I went there.
(02:04):
And I said, this is what Long Beach needs.
This is a great area for restaurantsand businesses to kind of get a
kickstart where it's not going tocost a gazillion dollars to open
up a place where you can go to onelocation and have multiple options.
And I know we have thehangar that is out by LBX.
I know that that's kind of over there, butI don't know, and to me, it just kind of
(02:24):
missed the mark because it was surroundedby all this other corporate retail.
And it's just, it's just something thatI just don't really think about going
to and, and, and, and heading out to.
So, unfortunately, I think it's great,but it's still, it's missing the mark.
The cost of the businesses, the costof the food that everyone's eating in
there, it's still ridiculously high,more so than what you should be getting.
(02:45):
It, it kind of reminds me of, you know,when you go and eat at a food truck,
if you ever go and eat one of those,you think you should be getting a deal.
But the reality is sometimes youcan go to these food trucks and
it's still going to cost 15 or 20bucks for a lunch or a dinner or a
meal and you don't even get service.
You're sitting out on a sidewalkeating with these flimsy napkins, and
going like, this does not work for me.
(03:06):
I, I spent 20 bucks for this.
You know, you kind of always thinkthat the food should be cheaper.
And it's just not like, if I'm goingto go spend 20 bucks on lunch, I don't
think I'm going to go to a food truck.
I think I'm going to goto a real restaurant.
You know, that's kind ofthat, that one whole thing.
So I miss this.
(03:26):
idea of the Anaheim packing house comingto Long Beach or that kind of a concept.
Now what's going to happen withthese lands is according to, where
did it say the redevelopment act orthere's some California crazy thing.
It's the surplus land actthat , California says now
it has to be offered up.
All three sites have to be offered upfirst for affordable housing projects.
(03:48):
And so whatever that means.
Probably more, low income apartments,which don't get me wrong, the city needs,
but when you're talking about buildingthe best value of that land, we've got
to do something that will help everybody.
You got to have something that'sgoing to serve a greater good.
One of the buildings And it didn't say,but one of the buildings that's being
(04:12):
demolished said that the usage couldbe quote, more efficiently developed.
And that is a quote by.
Someone here that is in the longbeachpost.
com news article.
It says, buildings on two sites weredeemed unsafe to occupy while an
assessment of a third found it could be,quote, more efficiently developed, end
(04:33):
quote, by starting from the ground up.
Oh, here we go.
Director of Economic DevelopmentBo Martinez wrote in a February 5th
memo to the city manager Tom Modica.
So that's where it comes.
So, taking these empty buildings firsthas to go to Affordable housing projects.
And then if nobody takes it up there,then it can be moved into something else.
(04:54):
What this article is lacking thatmaybe you guys know, maybe I don't
is how long, how does that, how doesthat affordable housing project work?
How long does it take to be ableto say, all right, we're going
to demo , these buildings andwe're going to put this land up.
So now we're going to solicit forinvestors to come in and build these.
And if nothing comes in,then we're going to do this.
(05:17):
I'm going to assume that this couldbe a decade long project, maybe a year
or two of going through processes, tosee if there's any competitive bids
for the, uh, from the projects, going,getting the approval from the state,
going and saying, no, this isn't rightand change orders and back and forth
only to have it fall through again.
(05:37):
I mean, let's be real here.
And then, next thing you know,we wake up ten years later and we
still have these three empty lots.
And I know that's kind of the waythat it goes, but it's just sad.
But, I am in agreement that it isgood to get rid of these buildings.
Because if they are a nuisance, ifthere are susceptible to break ins
and fires, like we know that homelessfires happen and we know that a
(06:00):
tiny little fire can spark anythingin the right conditions, right?
We just lived through that back in Januaryup in the Palisades and in Altadena.
Yeah, it's got to go.
It's got to go.
So one of these buildings, as a matter offact, I'm just looking at it right here,
was destroyed by a two alarm fire in July.
And that damage, I just say, isIt's beyond repair, and it's just
(06:23):
not able to be occupied anymore.
So, it's, it's sad.
Martinez continues to write, Despitecontinued efforts to bring the
North Village development conceptto fruition, Completion was not
imminent, and ownership of theproperty was returned back to the city.
So, that, that's just so Unfortunatebecause that would have been
(06:44):
a great thing for Long Beach.
And we had already had all the power, allthe processes, everything moving through.
And unfortunately it just,it just didn't happen.
Uh, last thing it says in this article,the estimated cost for demolition was
900, 000 and it is expected to recoupthe money once the sites are sold.
So here we go, 900, 000.
(07:07):
How much do you bet that that demo costis actually going to be northwards of 1.
5 million when it's all said and done.
And, yes, we might be able torecoup that land cost back, but
interest, all this other opportunitycost, what, what about all that?
So, anyways, more projectsdying in the city of Long Beach,
(07:30):
but maybe it's for the better.
And again, like I said, I am for gettingrid of these nuisance properties.
Things that just can't be thereanymore, they should be demolished,
they should be gone, they should beThat should be put to bed and let's
reinvent and reinvest back into our city.
That's it for this episode ofthe All in Long Beach podcast.
If you like what you're hearing, give usa thumbs up, like, comment, subscribe.
(07:51):
Those are all free ways thatyou can help this podcast.
And find us, follow us on Instagram,Facebook and X at All in Long Beach.
Drop your comments.
Let me know what you think aboutwhat's going on here with these
properties being demolished.
And what we could be doingwith these properties.
And if you are really a diehardLong Beach resident and you
want to get even more involved.
Follow us on our, sign up forour Patreon, go to patreon.
(08:14):
com slash all in long beach.
There are different ways that you can getinvolved exclusive content and you can
even cohost an episode on a topic of yourchoosing on the all in long beach podcast.
Go check it out there.
Thanks for listening everyone.
And we will see you in the next episode.
Announcer (08:30):
Thanks for listening to the all in Long Beach podcast.
Tell us what you thoughton our Patreon page.
Join for free and accessour chat about this episode.
Paid memberships start at just 5per month and get access to early
episodes, our exclusive member chat,exclusive content, our private discord
community, after episode discussion,live pop up videos, and much more.
You can even suggest topics andguests for upcoming episodes.
(08:52):
And you can sign up to become a co hostof this podcast in a future episode.
The link to join for freeis in the show notes.
Or type in patreon.
com slash all in long beach.
That's patreon.
com slash all in long beach again.
Patreon.
com slash all in long beach.
Thanks for listening to this episodeof the All in Long Beach podcast.
We will catch you in the next episode.
undefined
(00:01):
I'm going to assume that thiscould be a decade long project,
maybe a year or two ofgoing through processes,
to see if there's any competitive bids
getting the approval from the state,going and saying, no, this isn't right
and change orders and back and forthonly to have it fall through again.
And then, next thing you know,we wake up ten years later and we
(00:21):
still have these three empty lots
Announcer (00:24):
All in Long Beach, we're breaking it down.
News and events from all around town.
Business, politics, lifestyle too.
Food and fun, we bring it to you.
Stuart - All In Long Beach: And welcome to the all in Long (00:39):
undefined
Beach podcast Stuart Takahara
here your host Of the all in longbeach podcast and today a new
article came out in the long beachpost It says long beach to demolish
three vacant city owned properties.
These buildings have been languishingwith break ins and fires And creating
nuisances for neighbors and I wentthrough this article and I've got to
(01:02):
say, I, I think this is the right move.
I think this is exactly what we needto be doing with these buildings
that are being occupied by squattersthat are not safe, that people are
breaking into that are just eyesores.
I think these are the right decisions.
Now there's three properties.
One of them is near Poly high school andthe other two are in North Long Beach.
(01:23):
But what was really sad about thisis I was kind of going through the.
Article here are the two propertiesthat were up in North Long Beach were
supposed to have been going to developa property that was part of the North
village redevelopment plan, and it wassupposed to have housing and retails and
(01:44):
restaurants and gallery space, and it was.
It's run by this place called L.
A.
B.
Inc.
I don't know if that's Lab Inc.
or what it is, but, um, they, , builtthe Anti Mall in Costa Mesa.
They were also part of theAnaheim Packing District.
And if you've never been to theAnaheim Packing District, I went there.
(02:04):
And I said, this is what Long Beach needs.
This is a great area for restaurantsand businesses to kind of get a
kickstart where it's not going tocost a gazillion dollars to open
up a place where you can go to onelocation and have multiple options.
And I know we have thehangar that is out by LBX.
I know that that's kind of over there, butI don't know, and to me, it just kind of
(02:24):
missed the mark because it was surroundedby all this other corporate retail.
And it's just, it's just something thatI just don't really think about going
to and, and, and, and heading out to.
So, unfortunately, I think it's great,but it's still, it's missing the mark.
The cost of the businesses, the costof the food that everyone's eating in
there, it's still ridiculously high,more so than what you should be getting.
(02:45):
It, it kind of reminds me of, you know,when you go and eat at a food truck,
if you ever go and eat one of those,you think you should be getting a deal.
But the reality is sometimes youcan go to these food trucks and
it's still going to cost 15 or 20bucks for a lunch or a dinner or a
meal and you don't even get service.
You're sitting out on a sidewalkeating with these flimsy napkins, and
going like, this does not work for me.
(03:06):
I, I spent 20 bucks for this.
You know, you kind of always thinkthat the food should be cheaper.
And it's just not like, if I'm goingto go spend 20 bucks on lunch, I don't
think I'm going to go to a food truck.
I think I'm going to goto a real restaurant.
You know, that's kind ofthat, that one whole thing.
So I miss this.
(03:26):
idea of the Anaheim packing house comingto Long Beach or that kind of a concept.
Now what's going to happen withthese lands is according to, where
did it say the redevelopment act orthere's some California crazy thing.
It's the surplus land actthat , California says now
it has to be offered up.
All three sites have to be offered upfirst for affordable housing projects.
(03:48):
And so whatever that means.
Probably more, low income apartments,which don't get me wrong, the city needs,
but when you're talking about buildingthe best value of that land, we've got
to do something that will help everybody.
You got to have something that'sgoing to serve a greater good.
One of the buildings And it didn't say,but one of the buildings that's being
(04:12):
demolished said that the usage couldbe quote, more efficiently developed.
And that is a quote by.
Someone here that is in the longbeachpost.
com news article.
It says, buildings on two sites weredeemed unsafe to occupy while an
assessment of a third found it could be,quote, more efficiently developed, end
(04:33):
quote, by starting from the ground up.
Oh, here we go.
Director of Economic DevelopmentBo Martinez wrote in a February 5th
memo to the city manager Tom Modica.
So that's where it comes.
So, taking these empty buildings firsthas to go to Affordable housing projects.
And then if nobody takes it up there,then it can be moved into something else.
(04:54):
What this article is lacking thatmaybe you guys know, maybe I don't
is how long, how does that, how doesthat affordable housing project work?
How long does it take to be ableto say, all right, we're going
to demo , these buildings andwe're going to put this land up.
So now we're going to solicit forinvestors to come in and build these.
And if nothing comes in,then we're going to do this.
(05:17):
I'm going to assume that this couldbe a decade long project, maybe a year
or two of going through processes, tosee if there's any competitive bids
for the, uh, from the projects, going,getting the approval from the state,
going and saying, no, this isn't rightand change orders and back and forth
only to have it fall through again.
(05:37):
I mean, let's be real here.
And then, next thing you know,we wake up ten years later and we
still have these three empty lots.
And I know that's kind of the waythat it goes, but it's just sad.
But, I am in agreement that it isgood to get rid of these buildings.
Because if they are a nuisance, ifthere are susceptible to break ins
and fires, like we know that homelessfires happen and we know that a
(06:00):
tiny little fire can spark anythingin the right conditions, right?
We just lived through that back in Januaryup in the Palisades and in Altadena.
Yeah, it's got to go.
It's got to go.
So one of these buildings, as a matter offact, I'm just looking at it right here,
was destroyed by a two alarm fire in July.
And that damage, I just say, isIt's beyond repair, and it's just
(06:23):
not able to be occupied anymore.
So, it's, it's sad.
Martinez continues to write, Despitecontinued efforts to bring the
North Village development conceptto fruition, Completion was not
imminent, and ownership of theproperty was returned back to the city.
So, that, that's just so Unfortunatebecause that would have been
(06:44):
a great thing for Long Beach.
And we had already had all the power, allthe processes, everything moving through.
And unfortunately it just,it just didn't happen.
Uh, last thing it says in this article,the estimated cost for demolition was
900, 000 and it is expected to recoupthe money once the sites are sold.
So here we go, 900, 000.
(07:07):
How much do you bet that that demo costis actually going to be northwards of 1.
5 million when it's all said and done.
And, yes, we might be able torecoup that land cost back, but
interest, all this other opportunitycost, what, what about all that?
So, anyways, more projectsdying in the city of Long Beach,
(07:30):
but maybe it's for the better.
And again, like I said, I am for gettingrid of these nuisance properties.
Things that just can't be thereanymore, they should be demolished,
they should be gone, they should beThat should be put to bed and let's
reinvent and reinvest back into our city.
That's it for this episode ofthe All in Long Beach podcast.
If you like what you're hearing, give usa thumbs up, like, comment, subscribe.
(07:51):
Those are all free ways thatyou can help this podcast.
And find us, follow us on Instagram,Facebook and X at All in Long Beach.
Drop your comments.
Let me know what you think aboutwhat's going on here with these
properties being demolished.
And what we could be doingwith these properties.
And if you are really a diehardLong Beach resident and you
want to get even more involved.
Follow us on our, sign up forour Patreon, go to patreon.
(08:14):
com slash all in long beach.
There are different ways that you can getinvolved exclusive content and you can
even cohost an episode on a topic of yourchoosing on the all in long beach podcast.
Go check it out there.
Thanks for listening everyone.
And we will see you in the next episode.
Announcer (08:30):
Thanks for listening to the all in Long Beach podcast.
Tell us what you thoughton our Patreon page.
Join for free and accessour chat about this episode.
Paid memberships start at just 5per month and get access to early
episodes, our exclusive member chat,exclusive content, our private discord
community, after episode discussion,live pop up videos, and much more.
You can even suggest topics andguests for upcoming episodes.
(08:52):
And you can sign up to become a co hostof this podcast in a future episode.
The link to join for freeis in the show notes.
Or type in patreon.
com slash all in long beach.
That's patreon.
com slash all in long beach again.
Patreon.
com slash all in long beach.
Thanks for listening to this episodeof the All in Long Beach podcast.
We will catch you in the next episode.
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