City to Purchase Southern California Edison Company Building in Downtown

LONG BEACH, CA – During the Long Beach City Council meeting held on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022, the City Council unanimously approved the City’s purchase of a Southern California Edison Company property in Downtown Long Beach. The building, located at 125 Elm Ave., will host the Long Beach Police Department’s (LBPD) crime lab, administrative office and training space for the Department of Energy Resources, and serve as the new location for a revitalized Long Beach Senior Center.

“Building a new senior center has been an important goal for our community,” said Mayor Robert Garcia. “With this new City building, we will be able to serve our seniors and provide additional City services in our Downtown.”

In recent years, the City has made concerted efforts to inventory facility and infrastructure needs to effectively deliver City services and identify solutions for reducing leased space and aging facilities. The five-story, 286,334-square-foot building sits on 1.4 acres of land and includes approximately 91,411-square feet of rentable space and rooftop deck parking. Given these configurations, and after assessments conducted by various City Departments, the property was determined to be well equipped to accommodate the LBPD’s crime lab, Energy Resources offices and Senior Center. The Senior Center will occupy the first floor, which will be renovated to include several multi-purpose rooms, a community meeting room, a small restaurant, and office space for Senior Center and Health Department staff to provide supportive services to the older adult community.

This acquisition will allow the City to discontinue leasing privately-owned property for its crime lab and construct the necessary upgrades within a City-owned facility; provide a more modern and effectively-planned Senior Center located in the heart of the downtown area adjacent to transit and other amenities; and allow Energy Resources to accommodate much needed office and training space for its staff and call center.

“We are excited to have this new City facility in the First District,” said Councilwoman Mary Zendejas. “Having a modernized Senior Center serve as a community hub for our older adults is needed and I look forward to seeing additional resources come into fruition.”

The City is set to purchase the property for just over $21 million with an additional $23.3 million in one-time costs for improvements to equip the building for the services and programs that will be served out of the location.

The building is expected to be completed and ready for City use in 2024.