The Broadstone Promenade—formerly dubbed the Inkwell when the project was entitled nearly five years ago—is beginning to see more of its scaffolding come down as it begins to look like they will open early next year (as opposed to this year as it was announced in 2021).
While a major sigh of relief is being released by all its nearby businesses—DTLB, both during and post-pandemic, felt like a perpetual construction zone that was far from the pedestrian heaven that the Promenade has always intended to be—the completion of the project introduces the final phase of the Promenade’s overall trajectory: Ridding itself of empty surface lots in favor of housing, parks, public arts, and restaurants.
And the feeling of the “completion” feels, well, complete: From the windows of The Stave to the roof of the 3rd Street parking structure, the Promenade is finally looking like a proper urban area—and its completion will be a welcomed addition to a Downtown that has been embattled by pundits who believe it isn’t a place worthy of visitors.
Why the pedestrian pathway through the Broadstone Promenade is important for DTLB businesses
Particularly key with this project is its public paseo that will connect the central portion of The Promenade between Broadway and 3rd Street on the east with Tribune Court on the west. And one will at first think, “That leads to an alleyway but thanks.”
But that alleyway is the back entrance of Altar Society, Pine Avenue’s first brewery since the closure of Rock Bottom. This little pathway creates a brewery/bar/restaurant hopping connection that will be par none in the city: One can go from the Pine Avenue-facing entrance of Altar Society, have a beer, exit out the back, walk straight to ISM Brewing (the brewery from master brewer Ian McCall, which will also be open 7 days a week in 2024) or jump to The Ordinarie or Congregation Ale House, and jaunt over to The Blendery or the upcoming distillery, Broken Spirits taking over the former Portuguese Bend space that closed earlier this year.
Add on top of this additional residents from this project, the now-fully complete Broadway Block, and the soon-to-be-complete Aster over on Broadway at Long Beach Boulevard, all clutch for making this particular area of DTLB feel more Downtown than Constrution Zone.
What’s the history behind the development that is the Broadstone Promenade?
Initially headed by Raintree-Evergreen LLC, the same development company handling the Aster, the project was handed to Alliance Residential in late 2019. According to Alliance’s director of design, Jonas Bronk, the building takes inspiration from “the unique culture formed around the intersection of urban life and ocean influence.”
The massive, eight-story structure is a podium-style building—also known as platform- or pedestal-buildings—where a “podium,” typically made of concrete or steel, is built into the ground with light wood frames constructing the stories atop it.
In this case, the Broadstone Promenade will have four stories of concrete—three subterranean parking levels that will give the project 268 parking stalls and 40 bike stalls along with its 10,000 square-feet of street-level retail—with seven stories of wood framing above that.
Those seven stories will host 189 market-rate residential units, none of which will be marked for affordable housing since the project was entitled before Long Beach passed its inclusionary ordinance.
There will be 28 studios, ranging in square footage from 470 to 580; 106 one-bedroom apartments, ranging in square footage from 700 to 907, the larger of the units featuring separate dens; 52 two-bedroom apartments, ranging in square footage from 862 to 1,221, the smallest having one bathroom instead of two; and three three-bedroom apartments, all at 1,080 square feet.
This project has 189 housing units, 268 parking spaces and only 40 bicycle spaces. These numbers would make sense if it was located in the suburbs, not along a pedestrian promenade in downtown. Our development ordinances need to get out of the 1950’s mentality.