New life is expected to come to an old tower, as developers are pressing ahead with converting the former First National Bank building at 115 Pine Ave into housing.
Preserved in its early 19th-century design, the historically registered building would be converted from offices into 70 residential units, pending the approval of the Long Beach Planning Bureau.
Eleven of those apartments will be reserved for low-income households.
Plans to repurpose the six-story, 64,000-square-foot tower were submitted in September by Pinelux Associates, who purchased the building at auction for 10.9 million in 2014.
If approved, the applicant said it would add a 3,600-square-foot rooftop deck and common areas. The applicant declined to comment further on the project, and has not provided an estimated cost or timeline for construction.
Those familiar with the project said Tuesday that the first-floor tenants, including the upscale L’Opera restaurant, will remain.
The project is still in the early stages of city review.
“The City is very excited about this project,” Long Beach Director of Community Development Christopher Koontz wrote. “Beyond that, it was just filed and we haven’t done our review process or made any determinations.”
Because the 118-year old property is designated as a historical landmark, it must go before the Cultural Heritage Commission and Planning Commission.
If approved, the building would be renovated through “adaptive reuse,” which means converting a building to a use other than its original purpose.
Formerly the Enloe Building — the building has held at least three names since 1896 — the structure was enlarged and raised to six stories in 1906. With renovations came a French Renaissance style, signaled most notably by its crown molding and clock tower — electrified in 1974 — that continues to give time to Downtown Long Beach.
The longtime office building has not received any major renovations since the late 1980s, according to the city register.
This comes as Long Beach deals with a surplus of empty low- and mid-rise office buildings, especially Downtown, and a deficit in affordable housing.
It’s led to an increasingly lucrative trend since the pandemic, Koontz said, as property owners with unused office space want to tap into a housing market that averages 92% occupancy citywide.
“We have done many adaptive reuse projects over the years and this project fits into that larger trend,” Koontz wrote.
According to reports within the city’s housing element, Long Beach needs roughly 3,300 units built each year until 2029 to meet its state housing goals. About 42% of those need to be for “low” to “extremely low” income levels, which is equivalent to making between $23,700 and $63,100 per year.