810 Pine Ave. – 78-Unit Assisted Living Facility Planned for Pine Avenue in Long Beach

The Registry

June 9, 2021

While still seeking city approval, a new highrise assisted living facility could soon be coming to Long Beach. The project is likely to go before the City this summer, and once approved will bring 78 units of assisted living to Long Beach residents, age 55 and up.

The project site, located at 810 Pine Avenue, is being developed by Global Premier Development Inc. with designs by architecture firm KTGY. The completed design will feature a 10-story building on approximately 0.36 acres, with 78 units ranging in size from 300-600 square-feet. A parking garage on site also will have space for up to 70 vehicles.

“I think what’s most lacking is assisted living in urban areas,” Mark Oberholzer, associate principal with KTGY, said. “Now the last year has really changed a lot with the pandemic and people’s views about cities but i think at least, longterm, people are always interested in cities. A lot of young professionals, families move out to the cities but then their parents, if they’re going to be in assisted living, they’re not really in the city. So it’s kind of diversifying options.”

According to KTGY, the building will also house a variety of amenities. These include common living areas on each residential floor to promote social interaction, dining halls and a cafe for visitors, a fitness center, a salon, lobby space for visitors, a terrace on the second floor, a rooftop garden and more.

“If you think about transitioning…It’s a very different living experience, so one of the things we did in the design of the building was really to try to think about replacing in a different way what (residents) used to have. We created this, what we’re calling a front porch on floor three. So you can sit on that level really like you’re sitting on your front porch. You can engage, watch street lights, really kind of be part of the city…And the other thing people miss the most is the back deck. So we really conceived the rooftop deck as a communal backyard,” Oberholzer said.

Situated along Pine Avenue, the project site is centrally located in a pedestrian-friendly part of  Long Beach and near a variety of shopping centers, restaurants and more. The site is also next to the Los Angeles Metro’s Blue Line, which will help connect visitors to downtown Los Angeles.

Additionally, the building will sit adjacent to Regency Palms Assisted Living, at 117 E. 8th Street. The historic, 1920s-era former office building was also converted by KTGY in 2018 into an assisted living facility and will be incorporated into the new  building.

“This is almost a phase two, where we take the parking lot, put in structured parking and then build the companion building. It will be assisted living and memory care, but the buildings will kind of function together under one operator, even though they’re separate buildings,” Oberholzer said.

The facility at 810 Pine Avenue also will be built to match its historic counterpart, while still serving as a modern facility, Oberholzer said. As well as referencing the adjacent building through its limestone base and shape, the metal-clad and glazed facade will keep the design contemporary and open.

“We were very intentional with the height of the building which really matches the adjacent building, and the proportion. It’s an important building in the urban fabric and it’s very elegant, so we didn’t want to just do something that didn’t reference it at all…We’re trying to translate aspects of that building into a modern building next door.”