Long Beach City Council unanimously voted Tuesday night to move forward with Plenary-Edgemoor Civic Partners (PECP) as the architecture team chosen to build the new Civic Center. The building is expected to be located on the site of the former court house on Chestnut Avenue and Ocean Boulevard in Long Beach.

The PECP proposal will cost an estimated $4.5 million per year more than the plan drawn up by the competing firm, Long Beach CiviCore Alliance (LBCCA). The total cost to build the Civic Center is estimated at $358 million over a 40-year period. Construction is expected to begin in 2017 with a move-in date sometime in 2019.

The city started envisioning a new center in 2006, after concerns about the current Civic Center’s ability to withstand a massive earthquake began to surface.

This is not the first large project PECP has taken on in the Greater Los Angeles area. The firm also created the downtown entertainment complex LA Live.

“Truly a space that speaks to the human interaction and the human scale first is something that I believe addresses the vision of our council and our city,” vice mayor Suja Lowenthal said. “I think that the staff’s recommendation for the Plenary team is the one that delivers that.”

The decision received both support and dissent from citizens who attended the meeting, primarily revolving around the long-term cost of the new complex.

“My main issue is that we have a civic center, and we have 20 years left to pay for that civic center and it looks really bad,” community member Eli Gonzalez said.

In a statement released Wednesday, Mayor Robert Garcia stated that “Retrofitting the existing facilities is prohibitively expensive and would be impossible without finding new financing through bonds or taxes.”

“Partnering with this team to build a new Civic Center is the right decision, and provides an opportunity to add residential development and other uses to the site, and to create a modern, sustainable project that will last for generations, without additional cost to our residents,” Garcia said.

The vote to move forward with PECP echoed that of the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners at its Monday night meeting. The current design for the center includes space to house the Port of Long Beach offices, as well as a new Main Library, Lincoln Park, City Hall, and new housing, retail and a hotel.