Los Altos Center buildings up for sale for $20 million

 Los Altos Center buildings up for sale for $20 million

Los Altos Center buildings on Britton Drive       photo courtesy of Centennial Advisors

July 14, 2023 8:30 am

UPDATE 10:00 am July 14, 2023: The orginal list price of $22.495 million was dropped to $20 million.

The three Britton Drive office and retail buildings integrated into the Los Altos Market Center have been listed for sale by investment firm Centennial Advisors for $20 million.   The price was dropped from the orginal price of $22.495 million.

The buildings include business, dental and medical suites and numerous other retail services storefronts including IHOP, Kennedy’s Craft Kitchen and The Bagelry.  The Centennial Advisors’ Long Beach office is also located there. 

Over the years, the three buildings have housed numerous iconic Long Beach  establishments including the Fish Tale Restruant. 

The buildings have been owned by the prominent East Long Beach Bloeser family under a few different family business entities.  Currently, Gerald “Jerry” Bloeser owns the properties through DGJ Properties. 

The original Los Altos Market Center (aka South) first stores opened in 1953 and was redeveloped in the early 1990’s.  

While the Market Center, Los Altos North and the Los Altos West strip are considered by many one retail center, each of the separate centers has numerous owners with-in each section. 

Along with retail and other services, the Los Altos Center area is a major Long Beach banking center with five major banking options.  It also has three major grocery options: Lazy Acres, Trader Joe’s, and Target. 

In 2019 the main anchor store then a shuttered Sears was sold and remains closed. That large department store retail space originally opened as a Walkers in 1954. 

The Los Altos Mall was inducted into the Mall of Fame in 2009.

All three sections of the "center" have had  regular closures and openings of dozens of retailers and services reflecting the retail and service trends of the seventy years the center has been open.  

Circa 1990's Los Altos Market Center marquee

Located a mile from CSULB, the original center was part of developer Lloyd Whaley’s East Long Beach planned communities of Los Altos Village and University Park Estates.

Target and LBUSD complicit in allowing Stanford Middle School students to freely shoplift

UPDATE 9/26/2023

Target said on Tuesday 9/26/23 that it would close three Bay Area stores, along with six others across the country, citing violence and rampant theft. "We know that our stores serve an important role in their communities, but we can only be successful if the working and shopping environment is safe for all," the company said in a statement. One of the stores targeted for closure in San Francisco was the subject of a viral video in April that showed the store's inventory behind locked glass. LINKS: East Bay Times | SFist

 

UPDATE 8/30/2023

RE: Target (Bellflower/Long Beach) and Stanford Middle School 

On behalf of the Los Altos Center Adjacent Neighborhoods thank you to both Target and the administrators at Stanford Middle School for setting the tone at the Los Altos Shopping Center North this first school day of the 2023-2024 school year.

Target’s high-profile security at the entrances did an excellent job in setting the tone for the school year that students after school must be accompanied by an adult.    

We applaud both the school administrators and Target working together to solve the afterschool problems from last year.  We trust that this great start will continue throughout the school year.  Our neighborhood leaders will be quick to let you know if afterschool student activity again spins out-of-control.

 Thank you again for addressing this issue.

UPDATE 6/16/2023

The Los Altos Village Target has instituted a policy that the students immediately after school must be accompanied by an adult. 

In addition, the Stanford Middle School principal personally met with the Target manager and other retail managers in the Los Altos North Center.

The Los Altos Center Adjacent Neighborhoods are encouraged that this is the first step in ensuring that students understand that shoplifting will not be tolerated and bad behavior has consequences. 

LACAN thanks both the Target Executive Sotre Manager and the Administration Team at Stanford Middle School. 

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LACAN Statement regarding the Target and Long Beach Unified  allowing Stanford Middle School students to freely shoplift  

Students file into Target heding toward the snack areas- student faces are puposely not photograghed 

“The Los Altos Center Adjacent Neighborhoods blames the Los Altos Target’s current policy of “allowing” students to steal  for teaching our neighborhood students that theft is OK.  

There is amble evidence that proactive measures of businesses in the same center have prevented theft and sent the students a message.  Stanford Middle School students are currently learning that crime pays thanks to Target.

In addition, the Long Beach Unified School District is complicit in not providing the resources to prevent students under its legal control from causing economic harm and disruptive behavior to business corridors near its middle and high schools across Long Beach.  

 Long Beach Unified knowns about the problems a small percentage of students under their legal control routinely cause businesses and have not provided the local schools with the resources to address students preying on local businesses. Long Beach voters and businesses have for years supported Long Beach Unified. It is time for Long Beach Unified to return the favor.”

After   contacting Target's corporate offices, and emailing LBUSD Superintendent Dr. Jill Baker and the LBUSD Trustees, as well as the LBPD East District Commander and LBPD Police Chief  Hebeish, so far only Target has replied.

Target Los Angeles Group Vice PresidentLeanne Pithey did email this to LACAN  June 14, 2023:

"Thank you so much for sharing your concerns regarding your experience at my Long Beach store with both our team and our guests. I apologize that you were unable to get a hold of my Store Director, Maria, in-store last week, and I wanted to reach out to you personally to address your concerns.

First, our Assets Protection teams are taking the appropriate partners and steps with both the Long Beach Unified School District, as well as the Police Department to ensure that we are mitigating theft activity in our stores and taking a tougher stance. Additionally, we are continuing to address situations as they arise in stores. Following your conversation with our security team, the team did take action to address the concerns you shared in-store. We will continue to be active partners within the community, while following the guidelines provided to us by the State of California. We are taking a proactive approach and stance across our stores to mitigate theft and other behaviors that impact our neighborhoods and communities.

Secondly, I have followed up with our Store Team in regards to how they handled escalating your concerns. While not an excuse, our Store Director is out of office. We have reviewed and addressed how we could have made your experience in speaking to leadership easier and more seamless, and getting you in contact with my District Senior Director or myself. I am happy to continue the conversation, and will also have Maria reach out when she returns, to ensure that we are continuing to be active members of our community, and supporting the greater good of the neighborhood in which we serve.

 Sincerely,

Leanne "

Unfortunately, on June 14, 2023 the day the Target VP replied, the store is "mitigating theft activity in our stores and taking a tougher stance” students again showed up to the Target store in mass and again thefts were rampant.

Supernaw two for two as "best " in local polls

 Supernaw two for two

as "best" in local media readers' polls

 May 16, 2023

Fourth District Councilman Daryl Supernaw is now two for two in local media polls on who is the “best” winning in The Beachcomber poll and placing in the Top Five in the just released LB Post poll.

The LB Post released its Best of Long Beach 2023 with “the top vote-getters in 106 different categories decided by over 40,000 votes”.    The LBPost’s    Top Five in its category of “People” were: Former Third District Councilwoman Suzie Price, Mayor Rex Richardson, Former Congressman Alan Lowenthal,  Fourth District Councilman Daryl Supernaw and Long Beach Economic Development Commissioner and Alley Cat Delivers owner Robert Smith.

LB Post Top Five Long Beach Best People catagory  

This is the second “Best” media poll that has named Supernaw as the top vote recipient. Last month The Beachcomber released its 2023 Best of Long Beach readers’ poll that also had Supernaw winning as the “Best Elected”.

It comes as no surprise to anyone who lives in the Fourth District or who is astute in Long Beach politics that Supernaw could be a winner in polls in two media outlets that appeal to opposite readership.  

Famously non-partisan, in his two terms on the City Council Supernaw has won high marks and accolades from constituents and colleagues for his work ethic, responsible budgeting, and office responsiveness.  His laser focus on representing his constituents has given him high marks from neighborhood leaders across the 4^th District and Long Beach.  

His independence from local party politics has given the long-time neighborhood leader the ability to focus on the people and businesses in the Fourth District and not become involved in the Long Beach political party dramas. 

Those facts about the popular Supernaw are clear to almost everyone involved with Long Beach City government. However, Supernaw’s stellar reputation has led the most political Long Beach insiders resenting Supernaw’s popularity. One such insider in Long Beach is his announced opponent the ultimate political insider and resume builder Herlinda Chico.  Or as many 4^th District residents ask when they hear that Supernaw has an opponent- “Herlinda who?”   

Chico’s obscurity comes even though she ran against Supernaw in the election he won the council seat.  In that 2015 election, she had just moved into the district shortly before running.  Relying on her vast network of politically connected friends, Chico had no community roots.  Despite huge political endorsements and money and backing from almost every deep pocket union, Chico was not ordained as she had expected.

Supernaw easily won.

Fast forward two terms later and it is easy to see that the voters in the Fourth District are pleased with their councilman.  With the 2020 redistricting, even the leaders of the new neighborhoods added to the 4^th District heap praise upon Councilman Supernaw after working with him only for about half a term.

 For more information :

LB Post Best of 2023 Awards

 

Long Beach 4th District candidate's connections to Melahat Rafiei run deep

 Long Beach 4th District candidate's connections to Melahat Rafiei run deep

Friday April 14, 1:30 pm 2023 

UPDATED 4/17/23 with updated Cory Allen website biography

Rafiei and candidate Herlinda Chico

Melahat Rafiei pleaded guilty to one count of federal wire fraud in the U.S. District Court in Santa Ana on  Friday April 14, 2023. Rafiei had agreed to plead guilty in a plea agreement with federal prosecutors. Rafiei’s plea   agreement was released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office on January 19, 2023   .   In that agreement, she admitted to trying to bribe two council persons over a cannabis store licensee.  

In 2009,  Rafiei started her political consultant company Progressive Solutions Consulting in Long Beach with offices on Broadway.    

The company quickly became the go-to firm for Long Beach races backed by the Long Beach Political Machine.

Long time Long Beach Machine political operative Cory Allen joined the firm in 2019.  

Allen as a local Democratic Party operative worked on many of the Long Beach Politcal Machine campaigns which often turned into staffing jobs. In 2014 after his former political boss Robert Garcia won the mayorship and Garica's 1st district staffer Lena Gonzalez took Garcia's council seat, Cory Allen became then-Long Beach 1st District Councilperson Lena Gonzalez's Chief of Staff. In 2019 Allen left that position to join Progressive Solutions Consulting. 

Archived  Facebook screen shot courtesy of The Irvine Watchdog

After winning the Irvine mayor's position in May  2021,  Khan put together a slim majority of the Irvine City Council to push though an increase to the personal officeholder accounts of the City Council  and remove barriers and safeguards on how that money was spent. 

In 2015, the Long Beach Political machine had orchestrated  a similar move  increasing the officeholder accounts by triple in 2015 in Long Beach. Then in 2017, the Long Beach Political Machine controlled  Long Beach City Council  voted to allow those increased officeholder accounts to be donated to  political campaigns.   

In 2021, Irvine Mayor Khan declared her intention to run for reelection. Progressive Solutions Consulting again  was hired to run the Khan campaign. Rafiei placed Cory Allen as the campaign manager.  

Then in an unorthodox move, in  September 2021, Irvine Mayor Khan hired Cory Allen as a City Council Executive Assistant despite his continued role as her campaign manager and his continued employment at Progressive Solutions Consulting.

The move to hire Cory Allen her campaign manager to also work in her official city office created a political controversy in Irvine .

Among his work on numerous Long Beach campaigns, Cory Allen was the campaign manager for Herlinda Chico in her 2015 run for the Long Beach 4th District Council Seat. Cory Allen also happened to be Chico’s roommate.

Chico had moved into the 4th District just  months prior to the election. Chico lost to Daryl Supernaw despite her having overwhelming endorsements and money from the Long Beach Political Machine.

During the 2021 Long Beach Redistricting Commission hearings, Allen submitted a self-created map that would separate Chico's and his home on Werhle Street west of the Traffic Circle from the 4th District and into a newly created district. Allen and Chico's neighborhood was then in the western part of the 4th District which was the only part of the 4th District that Chico carried in the 2015 election.

Area B of his Map # 47248 was Cory Allen's attempt at a personlized Council District 

Allen promoted his gerrymandered map #47428 at the October 20, 2021 Redistricting Commission meeting.  While addressing the Commission Allen mentioned his position as a Long Beach Human Relations Commissioner, but he failed to mention his day job- a political consultant with deep political ties to the local political machine.  

In the final redistricting maps, Allen and Chico's home on Werhle Street was redistricted out of  the 4th District into the 2nd District. 

In late 2021, Chico sold her Werhle Street home  (now in the 3rd District) and bought a condo  just east of the Traffic Circle at Clark and Stearns Streets in the 4th District were she and Allen moved.

According to Allen’s Linked-In profile, he left Progressive Consultant Services ( which he refers to on his Linked-In as only “PSC” ) in May 2021. That date is right after Melahat Rafiei’s FBI arrest was made public and she was forced to resign from her numerous appointed and elected positions. 

A month later in June of 2021, Allen left his position as Executive Assistant to Irvine Mayor Khan and joined another Orange County based political consulting firm- Presidio Public Affairs and Communications. 

Allen’s work biography on the  Presidio website  has no direct reference to his political work for Khan or his specific employment with Progressive Solutions Consulting:

Screen shot of Cory Allen biography on Presido website 4/5/23

Allen's Presidio website biography does include misinformation. At the posting of this article, his education on the Presidio website and on his Linked -In profile do not match.   On the Presidio website it lists his education as a BA in Political Science from Biola University:

Screen shot  Cory Allen education on Presidio website 4/5/2023

It is well known in Long Beach political circles that Allen was studying Christian ministry. As of the posting of this article, Allen's  Link-In page confirms that he studied "Biblical Ministries"  from 2020 - 2023:

Screen shot Cory Allen Linked In 2-5-23

Interestingly, the nine Presidio Team members listed on the website six including Allen are listed having a BA in Political Science.  One has a a law degree. The graphics person has a graphics degree listed while the communications person has a degree listed in communication.

With Allen starting with Presidio in 2019, and his Linked-In showing that he was studying Biblical Ministries from 2020-2023, it appears like a “George Santos moment” of some type that his Presidio biography list his education as a BA in "Political Science" and his LinkedIn personal profile has an entirely different degree "Biblical Ministries". 

UPDATE 4/17/23 LB4D contacted Presidio by the website contact about Mr. Allen's biography descrepncy. Presideo did not respond, but on 4/17/23 Mr. Allen's biography was updated to take away all references to his education. The other Presidio team members continued to list their education at the end of their biographies.

Updated biography 4/17/23:

Cory Allen Presidio biography updated 4/17/23

The Biola Biblical Ministries program was a 24 month completely online program. It is one of eleven completely online programs that Biola is phasing out and no longer accepting students.  

Biola's website describes the 24 month program  as:

The Bachelor of Science in Biblical Ministries is a program aimed at enabling adult learners to earn a bachelor’s degree and providing them with training for ministry in their local contexts. Intended for adults who already possess ministry experience and some college credits, this 100% online program provides a faster time to completion by utilizing Biola’s trimester system, thus enabling students to take courses year-round and allowing them to complete their degrees in as little as 24 months (assuming all of their general education requirements are completed before entering the program). The program combines excellent education in biblical and theological studies as well as training in practical ministry skills with professors from Biola’s Talbot School of Theology.

Biola's website further describes the course outcomes  which are not your typical Political Science course work:

Program Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the Bachelor of Science in Biblical Ministries, students will be able to:

  1.    Identify the basic contents of all books of the Old and New Testaments, including the ancient world contexts of the Bible. Apply the biblical teaching for Christian faith and practice (ULO 1, 2).

 2.  Appraise the biblical, philosophical, and theological foundations of ministries within churches and parachurch organizations (ULO 1).

 3. Demonstrate skills in ministry leadership functions (e.g. teaching, evangelism/discipleship, counseling and administration skills) (ULO 3).

 4.  Formulate perspectives of God, self and others in order to internalize commitments and values for an integrated professional life and ministry (ULO 2).

LB4D has reached put to Presidio for a comment on the Allen biography inconsistency with his Linked--In profile.

LB4D will update this article with any explanations or communication from Presidio. 

ELB gets homeless outreach mobile van visits

 East Long Beach gets visit  by Multi-Service Center mobile van  

The van known as the Mobile Access Center (MAC) arrived in East Long Beach’s Los Altos Center on Monday March 6, 2023. 

 

According to the outreach workers the MAC van first parked in the Los Altos Market Center between the Sears building and the Wells Fargo Building.  Early in the morning, Fourth District Councilman Daryl Supernaw visited them and advised them the Los Altos Center North (LACN) across the street was were the homeless tended to congregate.  The MAC van moved across Sterns Street to the LACN in the center of the parking lot under the shopping centers marquee sign.

The outreach workers said they had spoke to a few people and encouraged anyone to tell the homeless that they would return Monday and Thursday mornings to the area. Thursdays they are scheduled to be parked  in the Bellflower and 23^rd Street area.

Click on schedule to enlarge

The MAC van has been operating in the downtown area since January.  According to media reports, the City of Long Beach has plans to add two more MAC vans.

Last week Mayor Richardson tweeted an update on the MAC's outreach data. The Mayor tweeted that as of February 27th the MAC has “helped 414 people experiencing homelessness” and connected 204 people (49%)  to “services” .

The offical announcement that the MAC would rotate into the  Los Altos Village for 2 days during the week came after Mayor Richardson made a surprise visit to Councilman DarylSupernaw’s monthly community meeting last week on Tuesday February 28, 2023.  At that meeting the Mayor was asked by a community member when the MAC would be visiting East Long Beach. Mayor Richardson replied that the were plans were to have the MAC  rotate around the city after the initial work downtown.

Three days later on Friday March 3, 2023 the City of Long Beach released a press releasewith the MAC’s March schedule.   

Councilman Supernaw has the longest running community meetings and weekly  newsletters of anyone currently on the City Council.   Supernaw’s meetings are held on the last Tuesday of each month.  Councilman Supernaw’s  District 4  newsletter is emailed every Friday at 1:30 pm.  You can sign-up for the newsletter by emailing your request to district4@longbeach.gov.

For more informaiton:

 Mayor Richardson crashes 4^th District Community Meeting

Friday March 3,  2023  City of Long Beach released  press release

 

Mayor Richardson crashes 4th District Community Meeting

Mayor Richardson crashes 4^th District Community Meeting

Mayor Rex Richardson showed up apparently unannounced at Councilman Supernaw’s 4^th District Council monthly meeting  on Tuesday night February 28, 2023.

The Mayor and one aide showed up just as Chris Garner the General Manager of the Long Beach Utilities was ending a long question and answer session  at the meeting room of the Los Altos Library.   As traditional with the Supernaw meetings, Garner as the guest speaker was first on the 3 item agenda. The Mayor was not on the agenda.

Just as Garner was finishing and leaving for the Signal Hill City Council meeting, Mayor Richardson appeared at the meeting room door.  Councilman Supernaw told the crowd “ We have a surprise guest, the Mayor!”

The Mayor came up to the podium and introduced himself with “I’m Rex” .  

He then gave a very brief biography of himself and his first few months as Mayor. When he talked about his family, he noted he as the first Long Beach “Mayor Dad” with small children.  He mentioned his children attend school at Bethany School in the 4^th District. 

In discussing the homeless issue, the Mayor briefly touched on his announcement earlier in the day that the city would not be pursuing a shelter at Silverado Park. He stated that wanting the shelter came from a “heart of service”.   Richardson said that the city is having success in reaching  people to move off the streets but capacity is full in the current shelters.

Earlier in the day in his announcement about the city would not be using the gym at Silverado Park for a homeless shelter, Richardson said he would be meeting with groups and leaders across Long Beach to discuss solutions.  His Los Altos visit however was clearly just informational about what the city is doing concerning the homeless and not a discussion on possible solutions.

Richardson took questions from the community members.  The questions included questions on the Port of Long Beach, taxes, the Basic Guaranteed Income program and home ownership. 

Richardson spoke personally  about his experience at buying a home at 25 years old. 

The Mayor was asked to work to help some Council members and members of the community stop vilifying homeowners and small mom and pop landlords. 

During the question and answer time, the Mayor said he wanted to be "the mayor who listens."

 

Trader Joes takes over Los Altos Cleaners space and GNC is back

 Los Altos Center UPDATES:

Trader Joes takes over Los Altos Cleaners space and GNC is back

The Los Altos Trader Joe’s has taken over the former Los Altos Cleaners space next door. 

However, don't get to excited for a less crowed shopping experince. The new space is not for an expanded sales floor.  The new area will be dedicated to storage, employee restrooms and a break room.

A few doors down, GNC has reopened its storefront that it closed during the pandemic. 

Also of note in the Traffic Circle’s Marina Shopping Center, the Habit Burger is now open.  Habit Burger occupied the old Burger King at the corner of PCH and Ximeno. The Marina Shopping Center had long been part of the 4^th District, but in redistricting it was moved to the 3^rd District.