Long Beach residents blast condo project

Dozens of residents voiced their concerns about a proposed development along the boardwalk at last week’s Westholme Civic Association meeting.

Ben Strack/Herald

Kurt Wittek presented his company’s plan of building two towers, each approximately 15 stories, at West Broadway along the boardwalk, where the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach currently sits.

Ben Strack/Herald

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Developers looking to build luxury condominiums on the site of the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach presented their plans at a Westholme Civic Association meeting on May 12, and residents voiced strong opposition to the project.

Coming on the heels of the iStar development planned for the Superblock — which has sparked residents’ ire as the developer seeks a 20-year tax break for two high-end, 15-story apartment towers — a similar yet unrelated proposal by Wittek Development and Sackman Enterprises also calls for two 15-story towers along the boardwalk.

HALB is relocating to Woodmere in the fall, and the developers are in contract negotiations to purchase the property, at 530 W. Broadway. However, unlike iStar, the developers told residents at a packed meeting at the Long Beach VFW post that they are not seeking a tax break, and expect to pay $3 million per year in property taxes.

The proposed 290,000-square- foot development includes 166 luxury condos in two towers and eight town- houses connecting the structures, as well as a 292-space parking garage just west of Washington Boulevard. The beachfront units are expected to sell for an average of $1.4 million, said Kurt Wittek, noting that the project would attract empty nesters and young professionals.

“Our idea, our vision is to bring what we think is world-class architecture and design to Long Beach as a way of moving into the future,” Wittek said.

But the meeting grew heated as residents criticized the project, citing parking and overcrowding as a main concern. A rendering Wittek showed of the towers lit up along the boardwalk quickly drew groans and cynical laughter, as many shouted that they were too high.

The audience became even more annoyed when Wittek said that Michael Zapson, an attorney and the former chairman of the Long Beach Democratic Committee, was an early adviser on the proposed project. Zapson’s law firm has represented iStar in the past, and though his firm did not do so in the Superblock project, many residents were outraged after the Zoning Board of Appeals allowed iStar in 2014 to exceed the city’s current height limit of 110 feet by 50 feet, which many said set a precedent for future development in the city.