Technology
park breaks ground after 5 years
By Christine G. Adamo
On-line Forty-Niner
Ceremoniously
breaking bread and breaking earth are distinctly
different. Bread is not usually broken twice.
President Robert Maxson of Cal State Long
Beach, Mayor Beverly O’Neill, Assistant
City Manager Jerry Miller and Jim Maginn,
president and CEO of Watt Commercial Properties,
were on hand for what amounted to a photo
opportunity for the city.
Without fanfare, earth was listed - again
- at the site of the proposed CSULB Technology
Park on Pacific Coast Highway in Long Beach
Thursday morning. The lot was christened
with a ground breaking in 1996, when the
CSULB Foundation and city of Long Beach
first acquired the land from the U.S. Navy.
“It’s taken us five years to tear down existing
buildings and build an infrastructure,”
said Mo Tidemanis, the director of property
development for the CSULB Foundation. He
described Thursday morning’s activities
as a primer for the main event, the May
1, 2003 completion of building.
Thursday’s gesture marked the commencement
of phase-one construction of a business
park conceptualized by the CSULB Foundation
and the city. Tidemanis said they worked
together to develop and submit a proposal
to the U.S. Navy outlining plans to redevelop
the Cabrillo housing area of the now defunct
Long Beach Naval Station.
The joint plan met with competition from
11 other entities. But according to the
foundation’s Web site, the Technology Park
project got the nod in 1996 with an Economic
Development Conveyance from the U.S. Navy.
The conveyance, or transfer of property
ownership, was expected to aid economic
recovery in the community due to loss of
employment and revenue following the base
closure on Sept. 30, 1994.
One might wonder, however, if it is possible
to quantify the project’s value in terms
of employment and training opportunities
for the CSULB community.
“In a win-win situation, companies seeking
to conduct research will develop contracts
with university so that it can be completed
by [Cal State Long Beach] faculty,” Tidemanis
said. “The ability of students and faculty
to serve as consultants [for tenants] is
a major goal of the project - it’s what
we’re hoping for.”
Development will be completed by the middle
of next year, said Barbara Toth, vice president
of leasing for Watt Commerical Properties.
She added that efforts to attract technology-driven
companies to the site are already underway.
“The CSULB Technology Park fills the need
for high-quality, industrial space in Long
Beach,” said Bret Quinlan, a member of the
Cushman & Wakefield marketing team hired
by Watt to promote the site.
The CSULB Technology Park will be built
on approximately 22 acres of land at Pacific
Coast Highway, between Interstate 710 and
the Terminal Island freeway. The proposed
facilities are scheduled to be thoroughly
outfitted with fiber-optic communications
connections.
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