A jellyfish sculpture in the courtyard between The Current and the new Shoreline Gateway tower Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. Photo by Brandon Richardson.

The Shoreline Gateway tower, which officially became the city’s tallest building earlier this year, is now welcoming its first tenants—including more than a dozen jellyfish.

The gelatinous residents are part of the building’s eclectically decorated common areas, which also feature an outdoor art gallery in the courtyard and a community lounge with a 280-degree ocean view.

After some delays during the pandemic, which according to the developers led to shortages in building materials and staffing limitations, Shoreline Gateway’s first residential tenants moved into their units in September.

As of now, the building’s residential units are currently close to 20% leased and 15% occupied, according to Jason Silver, vice president of development at construction company Ledcor, one of the main partners on the Anderson Pacific development.

The three commercial units on the ground floor are still to be leased, with two potential tenants currently in varying stages of lease negotiations, according to Silver. Given the hit brick-and-mortar retail has taken during the pandemic, leasing up the commercial spaces wasn’t a given, he added. “I’m just glad there’s a pulse out there to be honest.”

The new lobby and courtyard reflected in a jellyfish tank inside the Shoreline Gateway tower Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. Photo by Brandon Richardson.

The project has been a long time in the making. Construction at the accompanying apartment complex The Current started in 2014, and ground for the Shoreline Gateway Tower was broken four years later, but plans for the project have been around since 2004.

At the time, the since-dissolved Long Beach Redevelopment Agency, like its fellow agencies across the state, was looking for ways to revitalize parts of the city that had long been affected by blight and a lack of new development.

A well known developer in the region, Anderson Pacific put in its bid to develop a piece of land on the corner of Ocean Boulevard and Shoreline Drive that was occupied by a city-owned parking lot and a run-down apartment complex.

Plans for the project—its scope and design—stayed the same, but over the past decade and a half, it hit its share of bumps in the road. Shortly after the plans for the two towers, The Current and Shoreline Gateway, were conceived, the recession hit. As a result, funding the project became a near impossible feat.

“The lender you talked to today might not be there tomorrow,” Ryan Altoon, executive vice president of Anderson Pacific, said of the troubled time.

But the developers persisted.

“We weathered that storm, and thankfully we did,” Altoon said.

Then came the pandemic.

The first floor of one of the $16,000-per-month penthouses at Shoreline Gateway Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. Photo by Brandon Richardson.

Continued supply chain challenges have made the last stretch of the project particularly arduous—developers are still waiting for some high-end appliances and mechanical shades to be delivered for installation in the tower’s nine penthouse units, five of which are currently leased.

“It is definitely character building,” Silver said of the challenge of completing a massive project like the 35-story tower. “Just like 2020 for the United States, it’s all about perseverance.”

The payoff, however, is well worth it, he said. “There’s no feeling like standing on top of the building that you’ve been working on for so long,” Silver said. “Changing the skyline is second to none.”

Monthly rents for the building’s 315 units range from $2,960 for a studio on the second floor to $15,795 for a penthouse on the 34th floor. As of Nov. 18, there were 253 units available for lease. The tower has been a joint project of Anderson Pacific, Ledcor, QUALICO and Landtower Residential.

The view from the pool at Shoreline Gateway Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. Photo by Brandon Richardson.
The historic Villa Riviera as seen from the 35th floor of the Shoreline Gateway Friday, Nov. 19 2021. Photo by Brandon Richardson.
A dog washing station inside Shoreline Gateway Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. Photo by Brandon Richardson.
An art installation in the courtyard between The Current and the new Shoreline Gateway tower Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. Photo by Brandon Richardson.
A patio area at Shoreline Gateway Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. Photo by Brandon Richardson.
A man works out inside the gym at Shoreline Gateway Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. Photo by Brandon Richardson.
A one-bedroom model unit inside Shoreline Gateway Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. Photo by Brandon Richardson.