The new owners of the Queen Mary are planning a marina, an onshore amusement park, a hotel and an office building near the landmark ocean liner.
Plans are still in the early stages. In fact, artists’ renderings of the project are four to six weeks away from public view, according to Mike Murchison, spokesman for Save the Queen LLC, the investment group that bought a lease for the 74-year-old ship and an adjacent 45 acres in a bankruptcy court last November.
He declined to give many details because his group will explain more in a private meeting with Long Beach city officials this week, but Murchison said the amusement park would have rides, movie theaters, restaurants and themed retail stores. The marina would feature 200 slips, including large spaces for yachts and commercial vessels. The office building would have 200,000 square feet for maritime or port-related companies as tenants. The complex is to be called Queen Mary Island.
Murchison expects a 28-month entitlement process and hopes for a groundbreaking in early 2011.
“We’re trying to do as much community outreach to Long Beach and surrounding cities not an easy task,” he explained. He said any project at the site had to be a good fit with the ship.
“We are in full support of the development of the property, which quite honestly has never lived up to its potential,” said Randy Gordon, president of the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce. “This developer is the real thing. And that real estate on the waterfront is precious there’s not much of it left.”
The ship’s former lease-holder, Queen’s Seaport Development Inc., declared bankruptcy three years ago. The new group, called STQ, paid $43 million to buy the lease, which was originally written in 1996 and ran for 66 years.
STQ is headed by Jeffrey Klein, a real estate owner from Newport Beach who is president of Fletcher Development Co. and Pacific Capital Development. His financial partner is the Carlyle Group, a Washington, D.C.-based private equity firm with more than $80 billion under management.
Since taking over the lease in November, STQ has started renovation work on the ship with new carpet, new paint and new cooling systems. Also, the company has hired Chicago-based hotel management firm Hostmark Hospitality Group to run the day-to-day operations of the Queen Mary.
“The city is pleased with the progress our tenant has made in learning how to operate an historic ship,” said Amy Bodek, manager of the Redevelopment Bureau at Long Beach City Hall. “The visitor probably wouldn’t notice the improvements yet, because they have been managerial in nature. Our new tenant is charged with coming up with a plan that makes financial sense, helps the city, and falls with the restrictions of California Tidelands.”
The land and the ship belong to the city of Long Beach, held in trust for the people of California. Laws block the city from selling the land, and any development must allow public access for water-related activities, including fishing, shipping, boating and tourism. That means limited retail, and a ban on any residential development.
The ship was retired in 1967 and permanently anchored at Long Beach. It was launched in 1936 and ferried passengers from the United Kingdom to New York.
Any big development will create traffic, and to address those concerns, STQ plans to apply for federal grants to develop public transportation to bring people to the area.
“One of our challenges is to find alternatives to the Long Beach (710) Freeway,” Murchison said.
Gordon of the chamber believes freeway traffic has improved with a new Port of Long Beach program that gives truckers discounted rates for using the port off peak hours.
Bodek said the city expects some hotel development as part of STQ’s plan to meet demand. The supply is increasing because the adjacent Coast Hotel is undergoing renovations and a nearby Marriott is in the proposal stage.
“But there is still room for more hotel accommodations,” Bodek said.
Facing competition
As a tourist attraction in Southern California, the Queen Mary faces competition from Disneyland and Universal Studios, in addition to pedestrian zones in Hollywood, Santa Monica and Pasadena all established tourist magnets within an hour’s drive of Long Beach.
One challenge the new leaseholders face is that the “Grey Ghost,” as the ship was called during her heyday, appeals to an older demographic.
“Making a ship attractive to a younger audience is a simple task,” said Steve McGowan, managing creative director at New York-based FRCH Design Worldwide, who has worked on Caribbean resorts and Las Vegas casinos. “Just look at Disney Cruise lines that have turned a ship into an event for all ages.”
While Gordon concedes that established retailers and restaurateurs could see Queen Mary Island as competition, he believes such an iconic attraction is good for the customer base in the area.
“It’s all about a mass of people going to one place,” he said. “Downtown Long Beach has much more synergism now than just a few years ago, and this development will take it to the next level.”
