Arts and TOD Project Mixes Generations, Incomes and Uses

Long Beach Senior Arts Colony – part of the multi-phase Long Beach + Anaheim development – has won Project of the Year from the 2010 Sage Awards. This “on the boards” complex combines a mixed-use, mixed-income, multigenerational community into a transit-oriented development (TOD) at Long Beach Boulevard and Anaheim Street. The versatile design – by Studio One Eleven – maximizes proximity to two major transit lines: the Blue Line light rail and Anaheim Street bus line (the most-used bus line in Long Beach). Enhancing its transit-intensive location are car-sharing, bike facilities, priority parking for hybrid cars, and a new bus/light-rail stop.

The arts-colony identity of the project offers continued learning and fitness: art studios, a playhouse/community room, library, audio/visual studio, classroom, computer lab, billiard room, fitness center and game room. Before winning the Sage Award last month (from Building Industry Association/Southern California), Long Beach Senior Arts Colony caught the attention of Los Angeles Times and L.A. Curbed. At build-out the project, developed by Meta Housing Corporation, is entitled for 356 units of housing and 42,000 square feet of retail. It conforms to Long Beach’s Green Building Policy, equivalent to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design “certified” rating.