Courtyard-Centered Apartment Block Takes Shape at Pacific Avenue and Third Street

An eight-story residential and commercial complex has reached completion at the corner of Pacific Avenue and Third Street in Downtown Long Beach, marking the delivery of a new mixed-use building on a site that had been planned for far denser development in earlier iterations.

The project occupies addresses at 250 Pacific Avenue and 131 West Third Street and consolidates housing, retail, and parking within a single podium-style structure. Approved plans allow for 271 apartments distributed across studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom layouts, with approximately 12,000 square feet of retail space lining the ground floor. Parking is accommodated on-site with capacity for 395 vehicles.

Rather than presenting a single continuous frontage, the building is organized around a central pedestrian passage that cuts through the block at street level. This mid-block paseo provides a direct walking route between Pacific Avenue and Pine Avenue to the east, breaking down the project’s mass while introducing publicly accessible circulation through the site.

Architectural plans prepared by Urban Architecture Lab depict a contemporary building with varied façade treatments across its elevations. Exterior materials include fiber-cement panels, expanses of glazing, and painted plaster, creating a layered street presence that shifts between commercial transparency at grade and more uniform residential expression above. Outdoor space is distributed throughout the project, with multiple courtyards, a rooftop deck, and indoor amenity areas such as a fitness room and shared lounge spaces integrated into the upper levels.

The development was ultimately realized by Holland Partner Group, following an earlier entitlement phase led by Ensemble that envisioned a significantly taller tower on the same site. That proposal was later set aside in favor of the current mid-rise configuration, which moved forward under revised approvals beginning in 2021.

With construction now complete, the Pacific Avenue project adds another large residential component to Downtown Long Beach’s evolving core, reinforcing the area’s shift toward mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented infill while maintaining a scale distinct from the high-rise proposals once considered for the block.

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