On February 24, 2022 Mayor Garcia and city leaders celebrated the grand opening of Vistas Del Puerto in Central Long Beach. This complex has created 47 new affordable homes in the city for families, neighbors with chronic health conditions and those who have experienced homelessness. It’s the newest project to be completed after a decade of housing progress.
Despite challenges both from the pandemic and those that existed before, Long Beach has continued to work hard to solve our housing crisis.
These efforts have resulted in the City creating:
- 8,000 new housing units in the pipeline with over 3,500 new units built 2014.
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A brand new 100% middle-income housing project has been approved to replace the former Civic Center site.
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A landmark inclusionary housing policy that will mean new affordable units for Long Beach families, students and seniors.
- Three motel conversions to add nearly 300 units of supportive housing for formerly unhoused residents.
- And an unprecedented $64 million was allocated to tenants so families can remain housed despite financial challenges during the pandemic.
For more information about Vistas Del Puerto, please click HERE. |
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Pitch Long Beach!
The City of Long Beach has launched Pitch Long Beach! – a new program that allows companies to submit project ideas to help improve City services. This innovative program was developed to make it easier and more transparent for vendors to submit creative ideas and technology solutions by formalizing the project submission process. The program is part of Long Beach’s Smart City Initiative, which advances solutions to civic challenges by engaging the community, staff and private sector to explore and implement emerging technology.
Interested vendors may submit a pitch at any time electronically by completing the Pitch Long Beach! Idea Form. Pitches will be evaluated by a committee comprised of City staff and stakeholders using the new process, which is aligned with the City’s open and competitive procurement policies. After a pitch is accepted, the City will issue an Expression of Interest (EOI) to determine whether additional organizations would be interested in the opportunity to provide a similar solution to the identified challenge on a pilot basis and would be able to meet the needs of the City. Once a vendor is selected to implement solutions from the original pitch, the City will work with the vendor to establish performance goals and success metrics. Upon the project’s conclusion, City officials will evaluate results using these metrics and explore opportunities to scale the effort. More information about Pitch Long Beach! can be found on the program website.
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Long Beach to Resume In-Person City Council Meetings Beginning March 15
The City of Long Beach today announced it will resume in-person City Council meetings at the Bob Foster Civic Chambers, located at 411 W. Ocean Blvd., beginning March 15, 2022.
Over the next few weeks, the City will gradually transition from the virtual format back to in person. The schedule will be as follows:
- March 8 meeting will remain virtual.
- March 15 meeting will be conducted in a hybrid format, allowing Councilmembers and the public to attend either in person or virtually.
- March 22 meeting, and thereafter, will be held in person only.
Once the City fully resumes in-person meetings, Webex/Zoom will no longer be utilized for public participation. Individuals interested in providing public comment must appear physically in the Civic Chamber. Facial coverings will be highly recommended, in accordance with State guidance issued by the California Department of Public Health.
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UPDATE: Bid Opportunity for Museums, Preservation Groups, and/or Developers Interested in Preserving a Piece of History
The City of Long Beach is currently soliciting the opportunity for qualified museums, preservation groups and/ or developers to acquire lifeboats from the RMS Queen Mary (ED22-031 Queen Mary Lifeboat Disposition), affording them the ability to preserve and feature a piece of history at their place of choice. The City is looking for entities who are interested in the preservation of these historic lifeboats. The electronic bidding system, PlanetBids, provides an easy and accessible way to submit your proposal, while ensuring fairness during the application and selection process. Registered companies and organizations will receive customized emails notifying them of specific bids, the ability to search for bids, and download documents.
We strongly encourage registering for PlanetBids. More information about how to register and answers to any questions is available at longbeach.gov/purchasing.
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The next site walkthrough will be conducted on March 4th at 3:00 PM PST.
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The RFP officially closes on March 25th at 5:00 PM PFT.
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Please see the official posting on PlanetBids Vendor Portal.
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Long Beach Parks Recreation and Marine Partners with Cal Poly Pomona and the Long Beach Community Design Center to Offer Free Urban Planning Program for Teens
Registration Now Open; Program Begins March 9
Long Beach Parks Recreation and Marine (PRM) is offering Young Community Planners of Long Beach, a new urban planning program for teens ages 13 to 18 who are interested in city planning and development. PRM is collaborating with the Cal Poly Pomona College of Environmental Design and the Long Beach Community Design Center to facilitate the program, which will provide hands-on experience about the urban planning process.
Participating youth will learn about the urban planning process, which involves how city spaces and amenities are designed to best suit the needs of the population. Cal Poly’s Urban and Regional Planning students and members of the Long Beach Community Design Center will instruct participants about building a better city while learning about sustainability, mobility, the history of Long beach, and more. Teens will gain an appreciation for their ability to help shape the place they live.
The workshops will be held on Wednesdays, March 9, 16 and 30, from 3:30 to 6 p.m. at the Houghton Park Teen Center, located at 6301 Myrtle Ave., and McBride Park Teen Center, located at 1520 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. Registration is now open and will remain open until all spots are filled or until the program begins March 9. Registration is available by calling or visiting the Houghton Park Teen Center at 562.570.1640 or the McBride Park Teen Center at 562.570.1605.
The City’s Strategic Plan for Youth and Emerging Adults (Plan), adopted by the Long Beach City Council on Feb. 9, 2021, is a blueprint for supporting youth and emerging adults between the ages of 8 and 24 to become healthy and empowered individuals with the necessary resources to develop into their true authentic selves. The Young Community Planners of Long Beach Program meets a goal of the Plan to promote inclusive spaces and equity by engaging youth in urban planning, including park planning efforts.
For more information and to register, teens should call or visit the Houghton Park Teen Center at 562.570.1640 or the McBride Park Teen Center at 562.570.1605, and visit @YOUAREPLANNING, the Cal Poly Pomona Department of Urban Regional Planning Instagram page.
More information about other PRM programs and activities for youth is available on their website at LBParks.org.
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City of Long Beach Recovery Act (LBRA) Digital Inclusion Resources and Services Request for Proposals
As part of the City of Long Beach’s (City) effort to bridge the digital divide, the Economic Development (ED) and Technology & Innovation (TID) departments have announced two funding opportunities for Long Beach organizations to implement digital inclusion resources and services administered to residents and business owners most in need. Funded through the Recovery Act, organizations can submit proposals for opportunities including distributing hotspots and computing devices, offering computer literacy training and implementing community outreach.
Eligible organizations are encouraged to submit proposals through the City’s Vendor Portal, PlanetBids, by 11 a.m. (PST) on Mar. 1, 2022. Questions regarding the RFPs can be directed to the City’s Purchasing Team at rfppurchasing@longbeach.gov.
For information regarding the City’s Digital Inclusion Initiative, visit the website.
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City Launches Request for Qualifications for Grant Writing Services
The City of Long Beach is seeking grant writing consultants and firms to provide grant writing services for various City Departments that require assistance applying for county, state, federal and philanthropic grants. Now through Feb. 23 at 11 a.m., eligible organizations are encouraged to submit proposals through the City’s Request for Qualification (RFQ) Vendor Portal, PlanetBids, for consideration.
To be eligible, consultants and firms must meet the following criteria:
- Be a grant writing consultant or firm offering tailored grant writing services with at least five years’ experience providing grant writing services for a range of simple to complex federal, state, county, and philanthropic grants to government agencies.
- Have familiarity with current procedures for submission of applications under grants.gov, including the use of Workspace, preparation of SF-424s and other relevant federal forms; similar knowledge of FEMA and other portal requirements; requirements of SAM.gov, FFATA, etc.
- Have experience and capacity to produce grant deliverables under tight deadlines.
- Have strong project management and administration skills.
- Be able to apply an equity lens throughout the grant application process.
- Have a Long Beach business license (must be obtained prior to final contract award).
Details related to scope areas, eligibility requirements and submission instructions are available at PlanetBids. The City also has developed an instructional video on the registration process.
For more information, please click HERE.
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For more information, please contact Mary Frances Torres, SR/WA, Acting Real Estate Development Bureau Manager, Economic Development Department, at mary.torres@longbeach.gov.
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