The Port of Long Beach has taken a big step toward moving
out of its current aging, seismically deficient headquarters.
The port’s Board of Harbor Commissioners on Nov. 5 voted 4-1
to approve the purchase of an office building at 4801 Airport Plaza Dr., just
east of the Long Beach Airport, to serve as temporary headquarters for the Port
of Long Beach administrative offices.
The port’s administrative staff, about 350 people, expected
to move to Airport Plaza sometime in 2013.
The Board stressed that the move is temporary, and that
discussions are expected to begin soon on building a permanent headquarters in
or near downtown Long Beach.
“I am relieved that we have identified and agreed upon a
secure, safe, temporary home for the port (staff) while we go forward with
locating the space where the port presumably will be for the next 50 years,”
Board President Susan Anderson Wise said. “This is not my first choice; it was
my hope that the commission could come together and lease the (Long Beach) World
Trade Center, but I am glad we’ve reached this decision.”
Last fall, the five-member harbor commission twice
deadlocked on a 2-2 vote whether to purchase the Long Beach World Trade Center.
Commissioners Thomas Fields and Nick Sramek voted for the extension and
commissioners Rich Dines and Doug Drummond against. The fifth member, Susan
Wise recused herself from the issue because she and her husband both have
office space in the building.
Wise, Dines, Drummond and Sramek voted in favor of
purchasing the Airport Plaza building. Board Vice President Fields voted
against, citing complaints by port tenants and other stakeholders regarding the
11-mile distance between the temporary HQ and most terminal operations on the
docks.
“In the business sector that I came from, the customer is
always right,” said Fields, an advertising executive who was appointed to the
Board in December 2009. “And when I listen to our stakeholders … and they tell
us the harm they will suffer, the inconvenience they will suffer by moving out
of this area, I have to take that with a great deal of heat. To me, moving out
of the downtown to the airport does not make sense.”
The purchase price for the vacant building, which was once
occupied by the Boeing Corp., is $14.25 million. There’s also an annual ground
rent payment of about $255,000. Additionally, the port says it expects to spend
another $9 million in renovations.
The eight-story building was built in 1987. Closing date for
escrow is Dec. 27.
The current seven-story administration building, built in
1959, is overcrowded and does not meet current seismic standards. The Harbor
Commission has placed a priority on moving port staff out of the current
location because of overcrowding and safety concerns.
