This history of the neighborhood plays a vital part in the identity of its residents. If you have lived in the neighborhood for many years, the neighborhood history is a heartfelt reminder of days gone by. If you have just come to call the neighborhood home, it is a way to learn more about the new community you have joined. We would love nothing more than to be able to share the history of neighborhood name with all who reside there. If you are interested in writing a brief history of the neighborhood to share with the community, please contact us! |
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Today Alamitos Beach is a thriving diverse community!As you can see Alamitos Beach has seen some amazing changes and grown with the times. The architects of the past are merging with the architects of the future, creating a great place to call home. It encompasses luxury living at its best with new complexes being built and old ones being renovated. Nestled between the high rises are custom beach units, either own-your-owns or smaller condos that encompass great ocean views and comfortable living. Throughout the rest of Alamitos Beach you will find an eclectic mix of OYO, condos, Single family residences of all types of architecture, some even dating as far back as 1895. For Investors there are tons of income properties available, with as little or as many units as you need, and this area is a great rental market.
Why move to Alamitos Beach you may ask? WHY NOT! With the miles of beach front property, which gives way to a great Boardwalk used by runners, walkers, bikers, bladers, and just about anyone who wants to enjoy the sun and beautiful weather. Whether is playing on the beach, swimming in the bay or sun tanning, you are sure to find what you looking for here.
Alamitos Beach opens the door and rejuvenates the urban development of Downtown Long Beach. With the development of the new Pike and the revitalization of Pine Ave, City Place, and Shoreline Village, Alamitos Beach is sure to take off and be the next Belmont Shore.
With homes starting in the low $200,000’s and going into the millions there is still time to get in and invest in your future.
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Hollywood in Long Beach!One of the best attributes about Alamitos Beach is its lack of “Cracker Box” housing. This is one of the reasons that Hollywood loves to film here. Long Beach is very film friendly and the Alamitos Beach area is seen in a lot of movies and television shows. The Beach Plaza Hotel, known by locals as the turquoise hotel, is located at the intersection of Ocean Blvd and Cherry Ave and has been seen recently in the hit Fox show “The O.C”, CBS’s CSI-Miami, HBO’s Six Feet Under, commercials, the New Line Cinema’s “Blow” with Johnny Depp & Penelope Cruz, & lots of other independent films. Fear Factor also utilizes the beach and bay area frequently for its outrageous competition. The Villa Riviera is also a very popular filming location. -
Long Beach Art TheaterThe Art Theater, located at 2025 E. 4th St., is Long Beach’s only remaining neighborhood Movie Theater. It was original built in 1924, named the Carter Theater, and was designed in a modest Vernacular style which included styles similar to Graumans Chinese Theater in Hollywood. After the 1933 Earthquake the theater went through a remodel by Schilling and Schilling, which is still seen today in the ticket booth and Terrazzo floor. In 1947 the theater once again had renovation by local architect Hugh Gibbs, he stick with the Art Deco style and remolded the marquee, the glass block wall and added new poster boxes. The Art Theater location is a hotspot for trendy vintage clothing stores and home to the popular Portfolio coffee shop, which is frequently seen in television shows.
Picture from: Long Beach Architecture-The Unexpected Metropolis
By: C. Mullio & J. Volland -
Own-Your-Owns to CondominiumsThe Own-Your-Own (OYO) market is still very strong in Alamitos Beach as well as the Downtown area; however they are slowly started to be converted to condominiums. OYO are common interest subdivisions and were developed as self-contained residences which offered convent living for tourist and part-time residents. An individual owns an undivided interest in the complex (the land and building) and the right to occupy a particular unit. OYO prices are normally priced below condos and SFR because they are usually older apartments which don’t have the same value at newer condo buildings. The OYO also may not have as many amenities or parking as newer buildings. Today not many banks will lend on OYO, so most are going through the condominium conversion process, which only increases there value. OYO are good investments, especially if they are already in the conversion process since once they convert they gain approximately $25,000-$50,000 in value once the conversion is complete.
Another prominent architect in Alamitos Beach area is George D. Riddle. He Designed the Rose Towers, formally the El Cordova Apartments located at 1728 E. 3rd. St., the Barcelona on the corner of 1906 E. 1st St., Casa Del Patio, Alvarado and Casa Nido. Riddle’s designs were created from a lot of ideas including movie set construction, Mission-Rancho heritage and Spanish architecture. His design was one of Spanish Revival courtyard style. It has two separate wings that are mirror images of one another and face a central garden. Once apartments, then converted to the popular own-your-own units, some of Riddles complexes have since been converted to condos.
Picture from: Long Beach Architecture-The Unexpected Metropolis
By: C. Mullio & J. Volland -
Long Beach Museum of ArtAlamitos Beach is not only known for greatness in residential architecture but also has some great community space. Long Beach Museum of Art, located at 2300 E. Ocean Blvd, was originally built in 1912 as a summer home for a wealthy Philanthropist and art collector. The museum is a great example of the Craftsman style that is so popular in Long Beach. It became the Long Beach Museum of Art in 1957, and has recently undergone an addition in 2000 which incorporates the craftsman style and allows for a larger showcase for the art exhibits.
Picture from: Long Beach Architecture-The Unexpected Metropolis
By: C. Mullio & J. VollandWebsite:www.lbma.org/ -
The Villa RivieraThe skyline of Long Beach was forever changed in 1929 when Architect Richard D. Kind built the Villa Riviera, located at 800 E. Ocean Blvd. on the corner of Ocean Blvd and Shoreline Dr The style is based on the 16th century French Chateaux, which combines both Gothic and Renaissance styles. Lionel V. Mayell, developer of other well known hire rises in Long Beach such as the Cooper Arms and the Artaban, conceived and developed this successful project. The location and style of the Villa Riviera has been drawing movie stars and other elite tenants since it was built. Charlie Chaplin and Norma Talmadge were just a few of the early residents. The Villa Riviera survived the devastating 1933 earthquake which destroyed most of the town at the time. However the construction was very well put together and proved that the architect, Richard D. King, had great engineering skills that were truly before his time. Over the years the Villa Riviera had many uses including apartments, luxury hotel, military housing during Word War II, but was finally converted to condominiums in 1991. Today the Villa Riviera is still as highly desirable as it was in the past, constantly drawing residents over its newly constructed high-rise competitors.
Picture from: Long Beach Architecture-The Unexpected Metropolis
By: C. Mullio & J. VollandWebsite:www.villariviera.net/ -
The Ebell ClubThe Ebell Club and Theater, located at 290 Cerritos Ave., is a great example of Spanish Renaissance, bringing the past to the future. Built in 1924, no other building in Long Beach compares in beauty even today. If you get a chance to attend an event held at the Ebell Club, don’t turn it down. The Ebell Theater is currently converting to eleven loft style units. Loft living is currently taking Long Beach urban living by storm. Another Alamitos Beach Historical location that has been converted to loft living is the Long Beach Skating Palace built in 1930 and is located at 278 Alamitos Ave. The architecture is one of zigzag Art Deco and houses 19 lofts.
Picture from: Long Beach Architecture-The Unexpected Metropolis
By: C. Mullio & J. VollandWebsite:www.ebellclub.com -
Long Beach ArchitectureWith Long Beach drawing more and more people to the great beach and the ever popular Pike, the desire for people to make this there home then and now is very strong. Since the turn of the century when urban living was becoming more popular than rural living, society’s attention began to shift towards Architecture and craftsmanship. The architects of Green and Greene were leading the way when they ere commissioned to build the Adelaide A. Tichenor House in 1905. Greene and Greene, best known for their 1908 Gamble House, started to explore new design elements, such as mixing the arts and crafts ever popular Craftsman Bungalow with Japanese elements. The Tichenor House is currently occupied and is located at 852 E. Ocean Blvd., it has survived all earthquakes however, and it has gone through many modifications and additions through the years.
The best part about Alamitos Beach is the diversity of the architecture which is evident anyone driving down Ocean Blvd. Better to have a Varity than unity, which has taken over Southern California. An eclectic mix of style has take hold of the area including: Italian Renaissance Revival, Streamline Modern, Craftsman, Brutalist, Corporate, Spanish, and Art Deco. As early as 1922, Long Beach was known for “being a leader in the styles of Swiss Chalet, Bungalow, Aeroplane and Spanish Architecture.”
Picture From: http://www.usc.edu/dept/architecture/greeneandgreene/
Quote from: Long Beach Architecture-The Unexpected Metropolis
By: C. Mullio & J. Volland -
Alamitos Beach Past and PresentSituated in the heart of Long Beach, between Downtown and Belmont Shore, Alamitos Beach offers some of the best ocean views on the west coast. Even in the days of years past our society knew this was prime real estate. Fellow Los Angelens used to flock to Long Beach via the Pacific Electric Railways, more commonly referred to as “Redcars”. They would pack these Redcars and come to the beach by the hundreds. Since this was before the rise of the automobile most people lived within walking distance to the red cars. Alamitos Beach had a great draw since Broadway Ave, once referred to as Railway, and Ocean carried passengers to work, home and to Los Angeles, making Alamitos Beach a commuter town.
The streets are aligned differently in Alamitos Beach than Long Beach, because they follow the orientation of the shoreline. All with Spanish names at one time and in alphabetical order (Alboni, Bonito, Cerritos, etc…, some names have been changed over the years like Orange was Descanso and Cherry was Independencia). The Boundaries of Alamitos Beach have also changed over the years. At first the South and North Boundaries were Ocean to Second Street and the West to East boundaries were Alamitos to Termino (currently our Euclid). Today’s boundaries currently are from Ocean to fourth and Alamitos to Junipero. Today new markers have been set up to define the boundaries and let residents and visitors alike know that they are now in Alamitos Beach.
Website:www.lbtransit.com/history2.html -
“Alamitos Beach is not Long Beach’s rival, but its Crowning Jewel.”This caption was printed in The Long Beach Journal, the first daily newspaper, on Jan. 27, 1888. Even back then they nailed it right on. Situated right on the coast, Alamitos Beach offers community living in an urban setting. With close proximity to downtown Long Beach, less than one mile, there are endless possibilities, whether you are looking for an evening out on the town, a stroll on the beach, shopping or a little culture in the east village, they all are located in your backyard.
A little over 100 years ago Alamitos Beach, formally known as Alamitos Beach Townsite, was not a part of Long Beach, but its own town. John W. Bixby and I.W. Hellmann purchased the Rancho Los Alamitos Land during the mid-late 1850’s with a vision of creating a Beach Community that was so different and diverse that it would attract the “savant, the traveled, the student, and the philosopher may seek and enjoy all that esthetic taste may demand, or the highest civilization afford.” ¹ What Bixby & Hellmann did not realize was this dream would take 100 years to be fully realized.
Long Beach saw all the possibilities that Alamitos Beach had to offer and tried for several years to acquire the townsite. Finally the annexation of Belmont Heights brought about the end to the Alamitos Beach Townsite and helped create the beginning of the fifth largest city in California.
