A 12-member task force has been assembled by Mayor Robert Garcia to examine potential uses for the land surrounding the Queen Mary. The team, dubbed the Queen Mary Land Development Task Force, is made up of Downtown Long Beach residents and stakeholders, and professionals in the fields of real estate development, hospitality and tourism, architecture and design, historic preservation, the arts and more.
Garcia’s September 24 announcement naming the task force members indicated that the team will ensure that the public has a voice in the development plan by seeking feedback from the community.
“The city has been meeting with Garrison Investments, the ship’s operator and adjacent land lease holder, to develop a time line and process for creating a new master development, and we now have a historic opportunity to reimagine and revitalize the 43 acres surrounding the Queen Mary,” Garcia wrote in an e-mailed letter to constituents and media.
The task force members are: Ryan Altoon, executive vice president of AndersonPacific, LLC, which is jointly building two downtown residential high-rises with partner Ledcor Properties; Stuart Ashman, president and CEO of the Museum of Latin American Art; Becky Blair, president and principal of Coldwell Banker Commercial BLAIR WESTMAC and former chair of the Long Beach Planning Commission; Michael Bohn, senior principal and design director for Long Beach-based design firm Studio One Eleven, which is a subsidiary of P+R Architects; Eric Carr, a downtown resident who serves as director of product management for Custom Building Projects and as account director for the Taproot Foundation; Jeff Hoffman, president of Jeff Hoffman and Associates, a civic engagement, corporate citizenship and philanthropy firm; Julia Huang, CEO of interTrend Communications, Inc. and founder of Imprint Lab; Kenneth McDonald, president and CEO of Long Beach Transit; Cheryl Perry, president of Long Beach Heritage and the Long Beach Navy Heritage Association; Kelly Ruggirello, executive director of the Long Beach Symphony; Steve Sheldon, director of entertainment events for the Queen Mary; and Jan van Dijs, principal and founder of real estate development firm JR van Dijs, Inc.
As of press time, a date for the group’s first meeting had not been determined.