Builders, dignitaries, city planners and passers-by gathered Thursday to kick off construction of a new, 73-unit affordable housing complex a few blocks south of the Traffic Circle — a rare sight in East Long Beach. It’s the first to be approved and break ground in the city’s 3rd City Council District that covers well-off neighborhoods in southeast Long Beach.
The $66.1 million project at 4151 E. Fountain St., once complete, will offer dozens of apartments between two complexes — a four-story, 50-unit building and a three-story, 23-unit building — for those earning 30-60% of the area’s median income.
That includes 21 three-bedroom, 16 two-bedroom and 36 one-bedroom homes. A quarter of the homes are designated for residents with disabilities. Dubbed Thrive, it’s expected to open by late 2027.
“Affordability is the most central issue facing all of our families, and the largest contributor, the largest thing that we all pay for is housing. And so, the more affordable housing we build, the more we can support our families,” Mayor Rex Richardson said, hailing the construction.
At the site, there will be vehicle parking and bike slots, a community room, courtyard and playground equipment, as well as quick access to nearby bus stops, library and Recreation Park.
Standing on a dirt incline in front of the construction site, Suny Lay Chang, president and chief operating officer of Linc Housing Corporation, said that the project has come after years of headaches and challenges.
The property was the site of a youth mental health facility until its closure in 2015 over an array of violations and mismanagement. The city took over the property in 2017 and sought proposals to develop it in 2022. The old facility was demolished in June 2024, but in the interim dealt with homeless people living in or trespassing at it for years, according to city officials.
Separately in May 2024, a coalition of neighbors sued to block the housing development, alleging the city’s approval process circumvented their concerns about clogged traffic, a lack of parking and loss of privacy.
The site is a block from Bryant Elementary School, which can enter gridlock during drop-off and pick-up hours. Both Fountain Street and Wehrle Court, which intersect with the site, are also narrow with little available parking.
Eventually, the city, Linc Housing and neighbors agreed to a legal settlement in which the housing nonprofit would purchase a third parcel of land that connects the site to Anaheim Street to use as an entrance and exit from the complex. The developer also agreed to pay legal fees, remove the rooftop deck from the northern building and limit access hours to the other building.
“This project is really one with lots of battle scars and a lot of stories,” Chang said.
Long Beach has been under pressure from the state to enable the construction of more affordable housing in “high resource” neighborhoods like this one. Historically, developments remained clustered in downtown, North and Central Long Beach despite a spike in demand.
Linc Housing has more than 400 units across Long Beach, including two new apartment complexes that opened last year. The nonprofit also has plans to convert its headquarters at 3590 Elm Avenue into a 109-unit apartment complex.
It mirrors a similar push by the city, which officials say has entitled about 6,000 homes in the past three-and-a-half years.
“We’re producing housing at a rate that we haven’t in decades and decades and decades,” said Long Beach Community Development Director Christopher Koontz.