Renderings courtesy of City Place. 

Long Beach residents are invited to help rename City Place in downtown Long Beach, the shopping center announced today, in partnership with Downtown Long Beach Associates (DLBA).

According to a release issued this afternoon, residents have until January 4, 2016 to submit their idea for the renaming of the soon-to-be-revamped shopping center through its Facebook page, starting today. The renovation began this fall and is set to last four years, costing millions of dollars.

“We look forward to working with the community to rename their shopping center in the new downtown district,” said Tony Shooshani, owner’s representative for City Place Long Beach in a statement. “The repositioning of the shopping center will lead to new synergy on Promenade North and in the surrounding areas. We want the new name to reflect this newfound energy.”

To submit a suggestion, click on the Rename City Place post on the Facebook page, where renderings and summaries of the project are also available. The DLBA is also helping, directing people to the City Place page through its various media platforms.

“We know DTLB deserves better—and that’s why we’re ecstatic about the repositioning of City Place Long Beach into a space that caters to what Long Beach is all about,” said Kraig Kojian, CEO and president of the DLBA in a statement. “As we prepare to wave goodbye to the current City Place and welcome in a new era of shopping and public space in its place, we are encouraging Long Beach to participate in City Place’s invitation to rename the center.”

The new center will bridge the Promenade and what was formerly known as City Place together, with the aim of creating a new creative area and taking advantage of “energy and development trends” happening just south of the area. The first phase of the project will focus on Third Street between Pine Avenue and Long Beach Boulevard, and Promenade North between Third Street and Fourth Street. Redevelopment is currently underway. 

As previously reported, the Long Beach-based architectural firm Studio One Eleven and P+R Architects will become tenants, moving 120 jobs from their location on West Ocean Boulevard.

The 350,000 square foot shopping center contains 37 retail sites and its positioning in the center of so many other developments in the city’s downtown area could make it a game-changing development for the city. When he announced the renovation of City Place, Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia said that all the activity around it—developments in North Pine, the Pike, the East Village and the future Civic Center—will all be “knit together” by the redevelopment of the plaza.