![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/2-9-26-wells-7-183036-tv4trjeq-809937-tuqbB5hQ-1024x753.jpg\")
The Wells Fargo Building at Ocean Boulevard and Pacific Avenue in Long Beach on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/p>\nOwners of the 24-story Landmark Square office tower in downtown Long Beach \u2014 long known as the Wells Fargo Building \u2014 plan to convert it into 391 apartments as part of a multi-million dollar renovation.<\/p>\n
The 460,000-square-foot structure features a spine of floor-to-ceiling windows down the middle of the exterior, a nine-story underground parking deck and a grand granite entryway leading to the lobby at 111 W. Ocean Blvd.<\/p>\n
The historic tower opened in 1990. It was sold in 2013 to Manulife Financial Corporation, and this fall, it was purchased for $50 million by the Shomof Group. Months later, the firm filed an application with the city planning bureau to allow the conversion into housing.<\/p>\n
The Wells Fargo Building at Ocean Boulevard and Pacific Avenue in Long Beach on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/p>\n
Designs are slated to go before the city Planning Commission either by the end of this summer or early fall.<\/p>\n
City officials say the historic building will likely be a design challenge given its size and need for new electrical and plumbing lines throughout.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going from one water meter to hundreds of water meters,\u201d said Community Development Director Christopher Koontz as an example.<\/p>\n
Koontz said early designs required revisions to include large mail and storage rooms, considering people\u2019s growing dependence on home-delivery goods like Amazon.<\/p>\n
It also has tenants still renting office space there.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the city\u2019s fifth high-profile complex to see conversion from office spaces to housing, as part of a post-COVID trend, according to Koontz.<\/p>\n
Previous projects include the six-story First National Bank building on Pine Avenue<\/a>, the Security Pacific National Bank Building<\/a> just across the street and the plan to convert Park Tower<\/a> near Recreation Park into student housing.<\/p>\n The city\u2019s downtown, Koontz said, clearly has more office space than what is needed, but the pace of conversions is likely to slow in the coming years.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause I think at some point we\u2019ll have sucked up that extra capacity, and then we\u2019ll be back into sort of an equilibrium,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n About 93% of apartments in downtown Long Beach are occupied, according to a quarterly report<\/a> published in December by the Downtown Long Beach Alliance. It\u2019s tougher to find an open one here than in downtown Los Angeles, Culver City, Santa Monica and San Pedro, according to its findings.<\/p>\n