boeingbuilding

The Long Beach Register reported this week that Mercedes-Benz USA will use a 1.1 million-square-foot former Boeing facility as its regional office for the entire western United States. 

When the automotive manufacturer announced plans for a 15-year lease on the 53-acre site at 4501 E. Conant St. last July, they remained mum on their plans for the facility. However, according to the Register, Larry Lukanish, a senior vice president with landlord Sares-Regis says that the facility will be a regional office as well as a vehicle preparation facility and training center. 

A Mercedes official confirmed that the company is consolidating its western offices, its vehicle preparation center and its training activities under one roof in Long Beach “as a means of improving overall efficiency.” Mercedes currently has its nearest regional office in Irvine and a vehicle preparation center in Carson, but it was not confirmed if those will be closed once the move to Long Beach is complete.

The building was sold to Sares-Regis in July 2012, six years after Boeing ceased production on its 717 commercial jets. Mercedes’ lease of the facility is the largest infill industrial lease in the Los Angeles area in more than 25 years. The property will be turned over to Mercedes March 1.

Included in the guidelines of Boeing’s sale of the structure was that the iconic “Fly DC Jets” sign would remain intact. If there are any plans to move the sign or tear down the building, the City’s Culteral Heritage Commission will have to approve.

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