LBCC secures property for student housing project in North Long Beach – Press Telegram

Long Beach City College is making progress in its efforts to build affordable housing for students in North Long Beach.

This week, the City Council unanimously approved an agreement to sell the city-owned property north of the Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library to the college. LBCC had asked to buy the property to develop its student housing project.

This partnership, city leaders said, is another opportunity for Long Beach to revitalize the Atlantic Avenue corridor in North Long Beach — and advance a project as part of the Long Beach Housing Promise.

The Long Beach Housing Promise is a partnership between the city, LBCC, Cal State Long Beach and Long Beach Unified School District to find new opportunities for housing production and homelessness prevention programs for students and families.

“We’re proud tonight to be moving forward with a transaction,” Mayor Rex Richardson said during the Tuesday, Jan. 20, meeting, “that will allow us to see one of the very first projects to bear fruit from that partnership.”

In 2022, LBCC started working with the city to create more educational opportunities in North Long Beach, which included a development concept for a satellite classroom building and/or a student housing project serving LBCC students and the adjacent neighborhoods, according to the council staff report.

Long Beach then declared three parcels of land – which sit directly north of the Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library, along Atlantic Avenue, 59th Street and Lime Avenue – as surplus land the city no longer needs in May 2023.

In a continued partnership with the city, LBCC also opened its North Long Beach Higher Education Center in 2024. The center, 635 E. South St., serves as a destination for residents to access education and career resources, offer tuition-free non-credit courses, small business support services, workforce training opportunities and more.

The future student housing project, meanwhile, will make it easier for students to live close to where they learn and continue to grow the North Long Beach Higher Education Center into a campus style hub for learning, officials said.

The development will have about 22 units of affordable housing with a mix of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units for the student population at LBCC, with the ground floor consisting of flexible multipurpose spaces and resident amenities, according to the staff report.

LBCC and city staff negotiated the terms and conditions of the purchase and sale agreement for the approximately 19,388 square feet of surplus land for $1.4 million. Escrow will close in about eight months, said Real Estate Development Bureau Manager Mary Torres.

“Through this historic agreement, LBCC will be investing $55 million of Measure AC and Measure LB funds for 22 affordable student housing units, subterranean parking, two classrooms that will allow us to expand our educational offerings in North Long Beach, laundry as well as essential housing amenities,” said LBCC Superintendent-President Mike Muñoz. “This project supports both housing stability and educational access, two priorities that are inseparable for today’s students.”

Councilmembers backed the agreement and LBCC’s efforts to help provide more housing for its students.

“As a former member of the Community College Board of Trustees and national chairman, I got to see nationwide and locally, the importance of housing for students,” Vice Mayor Roberto Uranga said, “and I’m glad to see that Long Beach City College has joined the ranks at community colleges across the country to provide affordable housing for our students.”

The council meeting item also had another agreement and an amendment.

As part of the overall transaction, LBCC agreed to provide the city with free-use days for parking lots at its Liberal Arts Campus, and Trades, Technology and Community Learning Campus to support city programs, services and activities that benefit residents and the public, Torres said during the council meeting. The city will get to use the parking lots for 10 city use days over 10 years, or until all 10 days have been utilized.

In support of the overall development and operations of LBCC’s presence in the North Long Beach area, the city and college have also negotiated an amendment to the facilities use agreement for the North Long Beach Education Center property, which LBCC leases from the city.

While LBCC’s original contribution to the opening of the center included installing computers and the providing programming and classes, ongoing operation costs have increased and have largely been borne by the city, according to the staff report. LBCC agreed to contribute $40,000 toward operation costs, payable in two installments on July 1 and Jan. 1.

The council approved two agreements and amendment with LBCC with a 6-0 vote. Councilmembers Daryl Supernaw and Joni Ricks-Oddie were absent, and Councilmember Tunua Thrash-Ntuk recused herself because of a potential conflict of interest.