LB Port Will Purchase World Trade Center

The Board of Long Beach Harbor Commissioners has approved a purchase and sale agreement for the 27-story One World Trade Center building in downtown Long Beach as its future headquarters. It will replace the Port's present administrative office, which it says is 52 years old.

Under the agreements, the Port would purchase the building for $130 million, so with relocation costs and other fees, the total expenditure would be about $160 million. The Port media release says that it has been setting aside funds for a new administrative headquarters for several years. Since Port revenue comes from leases with private shipping companies, no taxpayer money would be used for the purchase of the building.

The Port of Long Beach, in announcing the purchase plan, said its current seven-story, 120,000-square-foot Port administration building, at 925 Harbor Plaza, was built in 1959, and is now overcrowded, obsolete, and in need of a major seismic upgrade and extensive repairs to the elevator, HVAC and other systems.

The Board of Harbor Commissioners Executive Director, Richard D. Steinke--who announced his retirement earlier this year--has been authorized to execute a 60-day, due-diligence agreement. As part the due-diligence process, the Port will conduct thorough physical inspections of the building and review all associated documents, including existing leases. If the Board moves ahead with the purchase, the Port headquarters could move by mid-2012.

The 573,000-square-foot World Trade Center, built in 1989, is a landmark focal point visible from miles away. Port employees would then be immediately adjacent to the Port and able to support downtown businesses. Located on Ocean Boulevard, with access by public buses, the Board of Harbor Commissioners meetings would also be more accessible to the public as the Harbor Plaza building is not reachable by bus.