New retail, housing development could soon be coming to North Long Beach

The vacant lot on the west side of Atlantic Avenue just north of 61st Street could soon become a mix of shopping and services.

Westland Real Estate President Yanki Greenspan said he’s in talks with the city about developing the 60,000-square-foot lot with retail, banking and possibly housing.

The lot, a former Redevelopment Agency parcel, is owned by the city and Westland is about a third of the way through a six-month period of exclusivity contract.

During their period of exclusivity, Westland will work to “put forth a proposal for the city to work with,” according to Vice Mayor Rex Richardson, who represents the Ninth District in North Long Beach.

Richardson said he’s excited to work with Westland because of their previous experience with North Long Beach development projects.

“We own the shopping center next door,” Greenspan explained, referring to the shopping center at Harding Street and Atlantic Avenue, anchored by 7-Eleven, “and we want to make a whole long block of development from Harding to 61st.”

Greenspan said representatives from Westland hosted a community meeting at Houghton Park Community Center and got feedback from neighborhood residents.

“They confirmed all our theories,” Greenspan said. “The area is definitely underserved; it doesn’t have a coffee shop or financial institution.”

He said the firm is in the begiing stages of talks with potential tenants, including financial institutions and coffee shops.

But, he added, the neighborhood needs to overcome its reputation.

“(Prospective) tenants are still afraid of North Long Beach,” Greenspan said, and as a result, some big name brands are out.

“We’re not talking to Starbucks,” he said.

Instead, he added, the firm is targeting “smaller guys, where you can have one-on-one conversations.”

It’s a strategy he said worked for Downey Gateway, a Westland development that opened in 2013. That development includes a mix of big box stores — among them, Best Buy and The Home Depot — and small chains, like Porto’s.

For the lot on Atlantic, Greenspan said he’s also reaching out to “creative tenants” like breweries and wine bars.

“Yanki is a young, iovative, really smart leader,” Richardson said.

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And Richardson reiterated the need for more services in his district.

“We don’t have a coffee shop or sit-down restaurants. We don’t have a bank. We only have bargain grocery stores — no Vons, no Ralphs,” he said. “If this works, it’s going to be a tremendous opportunity.”

The prospective sale would need to go before City Council before being finalized. But that’s still a few months away, Greenspan said.

“We’re going back and forth with the city on pricing,” he explained.

But Greenspan said he is committed to the project and to developing North Long Beach. Greenspan is a third-generation Long Beach resident living in Bixby Knolls, and his firm, Westland, has operated out of the city since Greenspan’s grandfather started the company more than 40 years ago.

“It’s more than business,” Greenspan said. “Is this the biggest money maker? No. But it’s goa be great to see North Long Beach develop.”

Jeifer Rice Epstein is an editor at Gazette Newspapers. She can be reached at [email protected].