Over the next few years, Southern California will be the beneficiary on several infrastructure projects courtesy of the upcoming Games of the XXXIII Olympiad aka “The 2028 L.A. Olympics.”
Aside major improvements coming to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, and arenas throughout SoCal, Orange County has a sprawling upgrade to the 55 Freeway, and other civic improvements can be seen throughout the Southland.
In Long beach, city and business leaders gathered earlier this week alongside Long Beach City Mayor Rex Richardson to announce the construction of the city’s first hotel in three decades. Coming to Long Beach by 2027 will be the Hard Rock Hotel!
The hotel will be situated on the corner of Ocean Boulevard and Pine Avenue – definitely a Park Avenue-style setting. Richardson announced the famed Jergins Tunnel that used to connect downtown to the pike would be repurposed as part of the Hard Rock project. He said it is expected to be a speakeasy with music that “ties into our local vibe.”
The tunnel has been closed to the public since 1967, but gained renewed attention last year after pop star Lana Del Rey referenced it in her single “Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd” from her 2023 album of the same name.
Construction on the 31-story music-themed glass tower hotel, which has been in the works for nearly a decade, is slated to begin next summer.
The hotel will feature 429 rooms and include over 50,000 square feet of dining and meeting space. The hotel will also feature a three-story atrium and outdoor pool. The outdoor rooftop bar and lounge will be the highest on the West Coast, according to the press release.
The hotel will bring to the city and Southland another great music destination. Given the shutdown of FivePoint Amphitheatre, Long Beach is poised to reap the benefits of the vacuum left by the closure.
As it stands, Long Beach is already a destination for concertgoers. Over the years, the city has experienced the likes of 311, Dirty Heads, Damian Marley, Cypress Hill and Snoop Dogg just to name a few of bands and artists that come to Long Beach on the regular.
With a number of exciting festivals – such as Cali Vibes and others that attract the who’s who of the music industry – the Hard Rock Hotel will bring the masses back to the city by virtue of a new music home for concertgoers throughout Southern California.
All these improvements and development are part of the benefits seen worldwide as a result of winning the bd to host the Olympic games.
Groundbreaking is scheduled for next summer, more developments coming as more information becomes available.
Until then, we have a lot to look forward to at The Hard Rock Hotel in Long Beach!
