Long Beach : 31-Story Tower to Be Built

A 31-story office tower will stand above the downtown Long Beach skyline by 1990 as a result of the city’s final approval Tuesday of an agreement with the developers.

The City Council and the city’s Redevelopment Agency unanimously agreed to the proposal by Landmark Square Associates for a corporate tower with 435,000 square feet of office space--including 30,000 square feet earmarked as the proposed new home of the Long Beach Museum of Art.

The project will have 14,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor and a “Corporate Center,” which will be elevated on four granite piers above the main office levels and be used for corporate board meetings or business seminars.

The development firm, a joint venture of the Treptow Development Co. and Cushman Investment and Development Corp., will pay the Redevelopment Agency $5 million for the city block bounded by Ocean Boulevard, Pacific Avenue, 1st Street and Pine Avenue. All tenants already have been moved from what has been mostly a blighted area, officials said.

Construction is expected to begin next June and will take approximately 18 months to complete, according to Julie B. Middleton, Cushman vice president. Pre-lease negotiations have resulted in tentative commitments for about 225,000 square feet of office space, Middleton said.