Onni Group Now Plans 600 Units at Marina Shores Project

Onni Group has reduced the unit count on its Marina Shores development, a project that ranks among the most significant underway in fast-rising Long Beach.

After buying Marina Shores, a former strip mall, in late 2021, the Vancouver-based developer initially filed plans for a two-building, 670-unit project that would also include 4,000 square feet of ground floor restaurant space.

Now, the unit count appears to be 600 or fewer. According to updated project information that appears on city documents, the restaurant plans remain the same but the total unit count is 600, although an architectural page also lists the unit count at 588. The project is still making its way through the city approvals process, with the Long Beach Planning Commission set to discuss it at a public hearing early next month.

It’s unclear exactly when or why Onni amended its plans. A representative for the company did not respond to an inquiry, and a city official did not respond with more planning details.

The Marina Shores project, with more than 530,000 square feet, ranks among the largest currently in Long Beach’s development pipeline. For years the coastal city of around 450,000 residents has ranked among California’s most development-heavy cities, with a number of marquee new multifamily projects. After officials passed a pro-development downtown plan a decade ago, the city has approved more than 5,000 units in the downtown area alone.

“We are in a boom,” Christopher Koontz, the city’s development director, said this spring. “But in some ways that makes it sound accidental. It’s not accidental. It’s very specifically by design.”

Onni Group has recently expanded its L.A. push. Last year the Canadian developer filed plans for a 14-story office complex in Hollywood, and in May it filed plans for a six-story, 278-unit apartment building in the West L.A. neighborhood of Sawtelle.

This year the firm also opened Onni East Village, a 432-unit apartment complex in Downtown Long Beach, about five miles west of the Marina Shores site. Onni bought the former strip mall site for $68 million.