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Gensler reveals renderings for $250 million Queen Mary Island development

On a Boat

Gensler reveals renderings for $250 million Queen Mary Island development

Developer Urban Commons and architects Gensler have revealed renderings for a new $250 million entertainment complex to be located adjacent to the Queen Mary ocean liner in Long Beach, California.

The project—dubbed Queen Mary Island—aims to bring 700,000 square feet of retail, a 200-room hotel, and a series of outdoor public spaces including a new boardwalk, marina, and public amphitheater to the Pacific Ocean–adjacent waterfront. The Los Angeles Times reports that the project will also bring a 150,000-square-foot entertainment facility by London-based Urban Legacies to the site. That facility is slated to include high-octane attractions like an ice climbing facility, a zip-line assembly, and indoor skydiving simulator, among others.

The move is an effort by Urban Commons to create new sources of revenue to fund badly-needed repairs for the aging ship. It is estimated that structural repairs and upgrades over the next five years alone will cost roughly $289 million. The Queen Mary brought in roughly $15 million in revenues last year between the 314-room hotel on board and revenue generated from visitor fees and events. Urban Commons has not released what projected revenues might be after the improvements, but the developer is betting that by rebranding and reactivating the Queen Mary as the heart of a new entertainment complex, more revenue will be generated.

The proposed changes would transform the surrounding bayside, which is currently populated mainly by a series of surface parking lots and the Long Beach Cruise Terminal. Several of those parking lots will be replaced with a cluster of a shopping structures designed around broad walkways and plazas. The structures are being designed to celebrate “the best of Great Britain [the Queen Mary was originally based out of Southampton, England] and Southern California,” according to a promotional video issued by Urban Commons. A new boardwalk will wrap the Queen Mary as it crosses the harbor, transforming into a new marina as it stretches west across the site. The new amphitheater will be located on this end, along with the new hotel. The plan also includes a new entry lobby and event entrance for the Queen Mary, both designed in the manner of 19th century English greenhouses.

The project is expected to break ground in roughly two years.

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