Developers Time Projects for 2028 Los Angeles Olympics

Steinhauer's Hard Rock hotel will rise on Long Beach waterfront.

The 2028 Summer Olympics, which will take place primarily in existing sporting venues throughout the greater Los Angeles area, is spurring economic development activity throughout the region.

The projects, which include a $30B upgrade of the international airport known as LAX, are being timed for completion by the opening of the Olympics four years from now.

Bellevue, WA-based Steinhauer Properties this month received approval from the city for a 31-story, 425-room Hard Rock hotel it is planning to build near the Long Beach waterfront.

The new hotel, located at 100 East Ocean Boulevard, is expected to be completed by the end of 2027, in time for the opening of the 2028 Olympics, according to a report in the Long Beach Press-Telegram.

A parking lot currently occupies the site, which formerly housed the Jergins Trust Building. The 529K SF hotel will be the first major hotel project in Long Beach in 30 years, the report said.

The Long Beach waterfront is slated to host several sports venues for the 2028 Olympics, including rowing, handball, BMX, canoeing, water polo and open-water swimming.

In August, Long Beach released details for more than $747M in park, cultural and infrastructure improvements it is planning to make in preparation for the Olympics under a plan the city is calling Elevate ’28.

A portion of the plan known as 2028 Olympic Legacy, costing an estimated $214M will include a $50M upgrade to the city’s Convention and Entertainment Center and $11M in improvements to the Queen Mary ocean liner, which is docked on the waterfront.

The city is planning to spend close to $25M to upgrade city parks, including $3.7M earmarked for a restoration of the Community Center at Martin Luther King Jr. Park.

The glass-sheathed Hard Rock, which is being designed by Portland-based GBD Architects, will linked to the Convention Center. The hotel will include the highest rooftop bar on the West Coast, as well as 50K SF of dining, banquet and meeting space.

The hotel will include a three-story atrium and an outdoor pool that will offer a view of city’s Rainbow Harbor.

In a partnership with Long Beach, the project also is planning to redevelop the historic Jergins Tunnel below the hotel into what is being billed as “a small speakeasy.”

The tunnel, which dates back to 1927 but has been closed since 1967, allowed pedestrians to walk under Ocean Boulevard to the beach and the nearby Pike amusement park.