By Danny Teigman
Sandwiched between the King David Manor to the west and the White Sands condominium to the east, the 18,000-square-foot parcel at 50 W. Broadway is currently the site of two vacant boardwalk restaurants and a closed ice cream shop. Tech Realty Development Inc. of Long Beach, which purchased the lot in 2005, has applied to build a 12-story structure consisting of 27 condominiums and four businesses. A residents-only pool and fitness spa would be included, along with a three-story parking garage.
Nearly one-third of the site would be dedicated to outdoor public spaces and plazas, yet the building would be taller than city code permits and occupy 11 percent more of the lot than is allowable.
"We're intending it to be more of an upscale place," said Eric Kupferberg, the architect for the project. "We're trying to bring back a little bit of the old flavor of Long Beach, where there were places to go sit and eat and enjoy the boardwalk."
But Corey Klein, the zoning board's attorney, took issue with several aspects of the proposal, especially its plans for parking. Klein criticized a traffic study done by Wayne Muller of Huntington-based RMS Engineering, which concluded that the building would not have a significant impact on West Broadway parking between Magnolia and Riverside boulevards. The RMS study revealed a vehicle occupancy rate of 88 percent at 4 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 11 and 105 percent at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 12.
"Are you really going to come up in front of this board and say that this building will be no detriment to parking?" Klein asked.
A chorus of objecting residents followed suit, and their opinions were summarized by former City Council member Mona Goodman. "I live across the street from the property being discussed, but even if I didn't, I would still be standing here tonight to oppose this application, which is too dense and massive for this small piece of property," Goodman said. "While positive redevelopment has merit when it removes a blighted building from our city's landscape, there is no justification for the redevelopment of this parcel from the existing two-story structure to a 12-story structure."
Beth Roskin, who lives at 55A W. Broadway, said she was also aggravated over the proposed condominium and the way the preliminary proceedings have been handled. "To say I'm vehemently opposed to it is putting it lightly, " Roskin said. "As of today, I have not been notified of the project. If it weren't for my neighbors, I wouldn't be here. If I wanted to be near towering buildings of 10 and 12 stories, I would have moved to Manhattan."
William Bonesso, an attorney for Tech Realty, admitted that some adjustment of the plans may in order. "Certainly we recognize that this is not in its final form," he said. "We may have to scale back."
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