Long Beach has reached a milestone in its housing goals by approving the entitlements for more than 5,000 units of housing over the last three years – more than it has done since the 1980s, city officials said.
While city leaders celebrated the accomplishment, they acknowledged that more needs to be done to continue addressing the housing crisis in Long Beach.
“It is a significant milestone for us,” Mayor Rex Richardson said during a press conference on Tuesday, Dec. 16, “and over the past three years, 5,000 units means that we’re approving housing at a pace that matches the scale of the problem.”
Each entitlement, or city approval to build housing, represents another step in the city’s broader progress in bridging the gap between supply and demand, officials said.
From January 2023 through November, the city approved entitlements representing 5,210 housing units that include a mix of market-rate units and affordable homes designed to serve a wide range of incomes and families in the community.
In 2023, the city approved 2,934 entitlements, with 645 of those being affordable housing. The following year, it approved 1,788 entitlements, with 225 of those being affordable. From January through November of this year, the city approved 488, with 247 being affordable.
City leaders said this has been possible largely due to the dedicated work of city employees in the permit center and development partners. Many of the affordable housing projects have been approved within 60 to 90 days, Richardson said.
These numbers represent homes that have and will make a life-changing impact on individuals and families in Long Beach, said Christopher Koontz, director of the Community Development Department, said during the press conference.
One of those people is Cheryl Neal, a resident of Heritage Gardens, an apartment community for low-income residents ages 55 and older, which opened last year. Neal shared that she has lived in Long Beach since childhood and is now able to age in place.
“I’ve had ups and downs, to (the point) where I have become homeless and didn’t have a place to stay,” she said. “Thanks to the mayor, I have a place to stay. I just love my apartment, it’s beautiful.”
Representatives from several organizations also stood beside Richardson and Koontz in support, including LiBRE, LIUNA, and Long Beach Forward, as well as city staff and commissioners.
Resident of Heritage Gardens Cheryl Neal speaks during a press conference celebrating the City’s approval of entitlements for 5,000 units of housing over the last three years in Long Beach on Tuesday, December 16, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Mayor Rex Richardson celebrates the City’s approval of entitlements for 5,000 units of housing over the last three years with a symbolic stamp in Long Beach on Tuesday, December 16, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Mayor Rex Richardson celebrates the City’s approval of entitlements for 5,000 units of housing over the last three years with a symbolic stamp in Long Beach on Tuesday, December 16, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Mayor Rex Richardson speaks during a press conference celebrating the City’s approval of entitlements for 5,000 units of housing over the last three years in Long Beach on Tuesday, December 16, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Mayor Rex Richardson speaks during a press conference celebrating the City’s approval of entitlements for 5,000 units of housing over the last three years in Long Beach on Tuesday, December 16, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Community Development Department Director Christopher Koontz speaks during a press conference celebrating the City’s approval of entitlements for 5,000 units of housing over the last three years in Long Beach on Tuesday, December 16, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
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Resident of Heritage Gardens Cheryl Neal speaks during a press conference celebrating the City’s approval of entitlements for 5,000 units of housing over the last three years in Long Beach on Tuesday, December 16, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
“With a lot of challenges in the world, we continue to lead locally, here in Long Beach, and show that we can produce year over year,” Koontz said. “It’s not just about having a good year, it’s really about a pattern.”
The annual average in the three years has risen to 1,737 entitlements approved, compared to 2020 through 2022, where the total was 2,111 entitlements approved, with an annual average of 704, according to city data.
Across the country, cities are grappling with rising costs and limited supply. Despite those similar challenges, Long Beach continues to act with urgency, intention and at scale, the mayor said.
“The level of production matters,” Richardson said. “When cities fail to build enough homes, prices rise for everyone. When cities increase supply, pressures ease across the market. So, production is an important part of the mix, and we’re beginning to see the results of those efforts here in Long Beach.”
During the last three years, rents in Long Beach increased more slowly than the rate of inflation, Richardson said. According to Zillow, rents have been below what they were the year prior, he added.
“That doesn’t happen by chance,” the mayor said. “It happens when cities are serious about increasing housing supply and removing bottlenecks that constrain housing production.
“More housing means more choice,” Richardson said. “It means fewer families competing for the same limited number of units. It means stability, not just for our residents, but for renters citywide.”
Long Beach is a majority renter city, comprising about 60% of the population, according to local tenant rights organizations.
Local organizations throughout the year have said that renters continue to face threats of displacement from evictions, and are also struggling with the high costs of living. Organizers and residents have demanded that the City Council update the Just Cause Ordinance to close the substantial remodel loophole that affects renters and call for local rent stabilization.
Long Beach and the City Council have addressed these concerns through its fiscal year 2026 budget, with its “Upstream LB” plan addressing vulnerable populations such as seniors, at-risk youth and communities impacted by recent federal policy, including the immigrant community and those on fixed incomes, to prevent them from falling into homelessness. Long Beach was also the first city to approve a plan on how to spend its LACAHSA Measure A funds, according to city officials.
During the press conference, the mayor thanked the community for its commitment to increasing housing in the city as well.
“This new attitude around housing is driven by our community; community members stepping up, making sure that our leaders, our policymakers, are leading with values and thinking about equity and making sure folks have opportunities for their children,” Richardson said. “We want to thank the community members for continuing to support housing in our community and for standing with us and continuing to advocate for housing in every part of our community.”
City leaders also acknowledged that there is more to do to continue reaching its housing goals.
Through the city’s comprehensive rezoning program, it has been able to facilitate its regional housing needs allocation of 26,502 housing units, but some sites still need rezoning. Long Beach’s General Plan Land Use Element, which the council adopted in 2019, anticipated building approximately 28,000 housing units across the city.
The mayor also shared what is to come in 2026 regarding affordable housing. There are three affordable housing projects currently under construction and five poised to break ground in the new year.
The affordable housing under construction includes The 101, located at 101 E. Pacific Coast Highway, with 51 apartments for people who have experienced homelessness; 300 Alamitos, north of Alamitos Beach, with 81 apartments for older adults who have lower incomes or who have experienced homelessness; and Habitat for Humanity Townhomes, on the 5500 block of Orange Ave. in North Long Beach, with eight units — each with three or four bedrooms — for low-income families seeking apath to homeownership.
Affordable housing expected to break ground in 2026 includes The Armory Arts Collective, 854 E. Seventh St., with 63 apartments for older adults; AMCAL Linden Apartments, on the 900 block of Linden Ave., with 99 affordable homes for families; 1401 Long Beach Blvd., with 151 affordable apartments for families; Foundation Street Apartments, with 72 affordable rental units at 4151 E. Fountain St., including some units specifically designated for individuals with disabilities; and Habitat for Humanity Townhomes, at 15th St. and Palmer Court, with seven units providing home ownership opportunities for families.
“Housing is what we’re investing in,” Richardson said. “This is the housing future that we’re building, one that offers real options at every stage of life, every affordability level and strengthens neighborhoods and ensures that Long Beach remains a place where people can grow up, raise families, and age in place. The future of Long Beach is one that we’re building together, intentionally, inclusively, with opportunity at the center of everything we do.”