Boeing Realty

The Boeing Realty Company (search) and its contractors are making slow progress in redeveloping the land in Long Beach once occupied by the Douglas Company. The approximately 265-acre site is still mostly dirt, but a small enclave of buildings has gone up, located at what will be the corner of (Jim) Worsham Ave. and (Carl) Cover St. The building interiors remain to be finished once occupants are lined up. A recreation of the Douglas “First-Round-the-World” globe is complete and in place. Douglas Park (search), as the overall site is called, will eventually be home to industrial, office and retail operations and an upscale hotel. For more information, visit the computer website at http://www.wilexa.com/.

- Bill Wasserzieher

Additional Information from Press Telegram Sunday, March 24, 2013 PressTelegram.com:

Long Beach Press Telegram (http://www.presstelegram.com)
Facelift of Douglas Park area moving forward
LONG BEACH -- The redevelopment of the Douglas Park area is in full swing, with the latest
addition being the new Courtyard by Marriott Long Beach hotel adjacent to the Long Beach
Airport.

The project is expected to transform a sprawling 261-acre former aerospace and production
campus into mixed-use commercial, residential and industrial neighborhood, replacing the
massive one million-square-foot hangar that was once home to Boeing's 717 passenger jet
before it shuttered in 2006 following several years of lagging sales.

Boeing Realty Corp. last month sold the last parcel of the Douglas Park development to the
Irvine-based real estate company Sares Regis Group, which acquired 160 acres. With the
33.6 acres the company already owned, it now owns the lion's share of Douglas Park.
The new hotel, coupled with Sares Regis Group - which has plans to develop its property
with about 3.2 million square feet of premier office, industrial and retail facilities - ensures
that one of the largest remaining open industrial areas in Los Angeles County will change
the face of East Long Beach.

Courtyard by Marriott Long Beach opened March 12, and offers 159 contemporary rooms
and suites, a business center, fitness center, outdoor heated pool and spa, free Wi-Fi for
guests and 2,000-square-feet of conference and event space. Also on the property are a
bistro and Starbucks espresso bar.

Janis Milham, vice president and global brand manager for Courtyard, said in a statement
that "guests want more control and choice with services and amenities that create a healthy
balance between working and relaxing."

Long Beach City Council members in a 2011 vote banned off-premises signs, such as
billboards, in an effort to prevent blight and maintain uniformity across the property, which is
bounded by Conant Street, Lakewood Boulevard, Faculty Avenue and the north side of Long
Beach City College's campus on Carson Street.

The council, in a 8-0 vote, also agreed that the historic neon "Fly DC Jets" sign will remain
regardless of plans. The sign is one of the city's last visible links to a rich aviation history
when companies such as Douglas Commercial, and later McDonnell-Douglas, employed
tens of thousands of workers in Long Beach during the decades between World War II and
the early 1990s.

"This is one of the largest and most exciting real estate purchases by Sares Regis Group,"
Peter Rooney, president of Sares Regis Group's Commercial Investment Division, said in a
statement. "Boeing has created a world-class master plan that has transformed the area into
one of the most desirable new business locations in Southern California."

The former Boeing production site and surrounding properties have been the subject of
several failed developments through the years, including a movie studio and electric car plan
operated by manufacturer Tesla Motors.

And after the most recent plans, a residential development, were cancelled years ago, the
recent commercial projects, including major industrial developments and a retail center, are
moving forward.

Sares Regis has also moved forward with construction of a $95 million corporate
headquarters development on the property it already owned, including seven industrial
buildings on two separate parcels, to be called Pacific Pointe.

The Courtyard by Marriott sits on 4.5 acres purchased by developer Nexus Company, which
also owns 10,000 square feet of retail space near the hotel lot.
Sares Regis' new 160 acres is made up of two 80-acre parcels and includes two former
aviation production facilities.

The aircraft production hangars were built at the outset of World War II by Douglas Aircraft
Co., whose workers turned out some 15,000 airplanes, including the legendary DC-3
transport and B-17 heavy bomber at the site.

"We have a long and gratifying relationship with Boeing and have enjoyed a very good
working relationship with the City of Long Beach," Rooney said.

kelsey.duckett@presstelegram.com
twitter.com/KelseyDuckett
URL: http://www.presstelegram.com/general-news/20130324/facelift-of-douglas-parkarea-
moving-forward
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