The Long Beach (California) City Council and the Board of Harbor Commissioners have awarded the contract to develop the Long Beach civic center P3 to the Plenary - Edgemoor Civic Partners.

The team beat out competition from Long Beach CiviCore Alliance, led by the Macquarie Group. The winning team is composed by Plenary Group, Edgemoor Infrastructure & Real Estate, Clark Construction Group, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Johnson Controls.

Dale Bonner, Plenary Concessions Executive Chairman, stated:

We're pleased to have this opportunity to partner with the City and the Port in delivering this important civic asset for Long Beach residents. The revitalized Civic Center will be welcoming and engaging for all people in the City and serve as a catalyst of civic participation for many years to come.

The  Plenary - Edgemoor Civic Partners proposal involves the development of 200-room hotel, 594 to 612 residential units, up to 47,838 square feet of retail space, 11-story City Hall, and 93,500 square feet of library space. The proposal placed separate-but-connected city and port administrative buildings. The new buildings will be located at the corner of Ocean Boulevard and Magnolia Avenue in the city of Long Beach.

The Plenary - Edgemoor Civic Partners will assume construction responsibilities and maintain the finished buildings while the city will pay rent for 40 years. The city will also sell six acres on the site to the team for a total of US$29 million. At the end of the term, control of public buildings and land would revert back to the city.

The total project investment is estimated at US$357.7 million, US$179 million for port headquarters and US$178.7 million for City Hall, Main Library and Lincoln Park. This proposal requires more investment than the proposal of the Long Beach CiviCore Alliance team, which estimated a total investment at US$314 million.

The New Main Library is based on sustainable design and state-of-the art programming and interior planning. The City Hall and Port Headquarters are designed as separate and distinct buildings to meet their respective programming and security requirements, as well as to create a modern and efficient workplace environment.  The separate buildings have shared facilities and both open to the new Civic Plaza.

The project is expected to be operational by 2019.

On February 12, 2013, the Long Beach City Council initiated the process when it directed its staff to prepare and release a Request for Qualifications (RFQ). The City then chose three teams to issue a detailed Request for Proposals (RFP). In mid May, Related California, one of the companies that were shortlisted for the new Civic Center, dropped out of the tender process.