By KIMBERLY ACEVEDO
Starting this Thursday, city officials say, offers will be made to the 13 land owners of the vacant Superblock property, located south of Broadway between Long Beach Road and Riverside Boulevard. Sinclair Haberman is the majority owner of the land, owning about two-thirds of it, and is filing suit against the city to cease the condemnation proceedings and takeover.
During the Tuesday night, Aug. 20, council meeting, Jacob Haberman, father of Sinclair and a Long Beach resident, brought up the costs he believes the city will incur in undertaking the project.
There is a cap on the developer's cost, he said. But the cost to the taxpayers is open ended. Someone must have been sleeping at the switch when they protected the developer instead of the taxpayers.
Meanwhile, with Tuesday's unanimous vote, the city will be able to make monetary offers to buy-out the land owners. The action meant the council formally accepted all of the findings of an environmental impact study and the determination that the vacant property is blighted and eligible to be claimed under eminent domain powers, officials said.
The planned Superblock project includes a 100-room boutique hotel, which is smaller in size than a regular hotel, and two ten-story high-rise condominium towers.
The layout of the hotel is slated to include a public promenade and gallery, a gift shop, two restaurants overlooking the ocean, a spa/salon, fitness center, indoor/outdoor pool, a business center, a screening room, a meeting room and cabanas. The hotel will provide a walk-through on the main level from the Boardwalk to Broadway. Gardens and landscaping will also be included as a main part of this project.
The condos will number about 325, with each unit designed to provide an ocean view from the balcony. A total of 825 indoor parking spaces will be provided for both condo residents and hotel guests. The condos are expected to range from $400,000 and up.
