In decades past, developer Izek Shomof converted numerous landmark buildings in Downtown Los Angeles into housing. Now, he's set his sights on a different on the center of the region's second large city some 20 miles south.

Months after shelling out $50 million to acquire a 24-story office tower at 111 W. Ocean Boulevard in Long Beach, Shomof has filed an application with the Long Beach Planning Bureau seeking authorization to convert the building into housing. The existing building, which accounts fmor more than 480,000 square feet of floor area, would be converted into 391 residential units, according toa  filing made late last year.

While adaptive reuse has not made quite as great an impact in Downtown Long Beach as in Downtown Los Angeles, historic buildings along the Ocean Boulevard corridor have increasingly been converted to new uses in recent years.

South across the street a 1960s high-rise at 200 Ocean Boulevard reopened as housing in 2023. Two nearby landmarks, the Breakers Building and the Ocean Center Building, have reopened as a hotel and housing, respectively.

More projects are in the works, as well. A 14-story building at 400 Oceangate is set to be converted to housing, as is a 120-year-old building at 115 Pine Avenue.

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