Five years after purchasing the Marina Shores shopping center at 6500 Pacific Coast Highway for $68 million, Vancouver‑based Onni Group has begun demolition of the roughly 6‑acre site.
The teardown marks the start of one of Long Beach’s most ambitious residential redevelopments, Urbanize Los Angeles reported. The project, approved by city officials and designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz, will transform the former retail hub into Onni Marina Shores, a five‑story complex featuring 600 apartments — a mix of studios and one‑, two‑, and three‑bedroom units — above 4,000 square feet of commercial space and parking for more than 1,100 vehicles.
The development’s layout includes a central driveway connecting Marina Drive and PCH, with landscaping by Salt Landscape Architects. The site occupies a transitional zone between the Alamitos Bay Marina and nearby wetlands, serving as a gateway to southeast Long Beach.
Onni Marina Shores is the largest of three major apartment projects planned along this stretch of PCH. To its east, Holland Partner Group is building a 281‑unit complex, while Carmel Partners is advancing plans for another residential development at 6615 Pacific Coast Highway with 400 units. There’s also WPH Holdings’ 203-unit tower at 615 East Ocean Boulevard in the pipeline.
Last year, central Long Beach had 33 major projects in development totaling about 5,000 new housing units, according to an annual report from the Downtown Long Beach Alliance. About 84 percent of residents are renters, with the biggest age bracket in the 25 to 34 range. Most units in the market are studios or one-bedrooms, with average weighted rent of $1,621.
The Marina Shores project continues Onni’s growing footprint in Long Beach, following the East Village project with 195 units in 24 stories in Downtown Long Beach. The development, which opened in 2024, sits near the A Line transit corridor. The Canadian company is run by Rossano De Cotiis.
Together, these developments signal a shift from retail to high‑density housing along the urban coastal market, reflecting Long Beach’s broader push to expand its residential base and revitalize underused commercial sites near the waterfront.
– Joel Russell
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