Long Beach construction roundup: major projects on the move

Long Beach, California, October 2, 2025

News Summary

A series of major construction projects across Long Beach are advancing: La Playa Hall student housing is progressing on schedule to provide hundreds of campus beds; the Port of Long Beach has hired Jacobs to manage the Pier B on‑dock rail expansion to boost rail capacity and reduce truck traffic; downtown demolition at the former City Place site has begun to make way for Jefferson Long Beach, the first phase of the Mosaic mixed‑use development; and a new project‑management book by a veteran civil engineer offers lessons on change orders, oversight and balancing professional and personal life.

Long Beach construction roundup: La Playa Hall on schedule for fall 2026; Jacobs tapped for Pier B on‑dock rail support; City Place cleared for Jefferson Long Beach; new project‑management book reviewed

Overview: Three major Long Beach projects and a new project‑management book are moving the local construction scene forward. Construction on Long Beach State’s newest housing development, La Playa Hall (formally Hillside North student housing), is on schedule and set to open for students in fall 2026. The Port of Long Beach has selected Jacobs to provide construction management services for the Pier B On‑Dock Rail Support facility, part of a $2.2 billion capital program. Demolition has begun on the former City Place Shopping Center to make way for Jefferson Long Beach, the first building in the larger Mosaic plan. In project‑management coverage, a recent article reviews civil engineer Robert Schraeder’s new book, Ancient Secrets to Project Management: How to Lead and Thrive in Your Professional and Personal Life, that blends management tips with life guidance.

La Playa Hall — campus housing

Construction on Long Beach State’s newest housing development, La Playa Hall (formally Hillside North student housing), is on schedule and set to open for students in fall 2026. The La Playa project is formally named La Playa Residency Hall (also referred to as Hillside North student housing). Project total cost: $126.4 million. The project is partially funded by a $53.3 million state grant through the Higher Education Student Housing Grant Program. Groundbreaking occurred in March 2024.

The complex will sit in Hillside Village, north of Beach Drive and next to the Hillside Los Alamitos building on the CSULB campus. When finished, the complex will provide 424 beds across three five‑story buildings connected by exterior bridges, with 404 of the 424 beds reserved for students under the Long Beach Housing Promise program. The plan is to turn the building over to Housing and Residential Life in July so staff can train and move furniture in before classes begin.

Project delivery milestones already completed include underground utility and foundation work and site make‑ready. Crews are pouring parapet walls and have started rough installations for piping for plumbing, electrical and mechanical systems. Project staff identify approvals from state and local entities and timely regulatory sign‑offs as the biggest challenges to maintaining schedule. The next significant milestone scheduled was pouring the last of the concrete on Oct. 3.

Pier B On‑Dock Rail Support facility — Port of Long Beach

The Port of Long Beach selected Jacobs to provide construction management services for the Pier B On‑Dock Rail Support facility. The Jacobs contract value for construction management was not disclosed. The total project cost for the program (capital program) is $2.2 billion.

The Pier B project will expand the existing rail yard from 82 acres to 171 acres. The expansion will more than triple on‑dock rail capacity to handle up to 4.7 million 20‑foot containers (TEUs) annually, with the intent of significantly reducing truck traffic, lowering emissions and improving air quality in surrounding areas. Jacobs expects work on the Pier B On‑Dock Rail Support facility to wrap up in 2032.

The port moves cargo valued at $200 billion annually and handles more than 9 million 20‑foot container units each year. Jacobs deployed a Program‑Level Support Construction Management (PLSCM) approach that provided shared staffing, constructability reviews, and integration of Jacobs experts with the port’s internal construction team. Site coordination included weekly meetings to align activities and equipment deliveries, a single hub for environmental compliance oversight, and efforts to repurpose surplus materials as part of sustainability measures. Months of coordination reduced schedule delay by six months through Phase 2 and Phase 3 delivery.

Downtown — City Place demolition and Jefferson Long Beach

Demolition began on the former City Place Shopping Center in Downtown Long Beach. The former building will be replaced by an eight‑story building that includes nearly 300 apartment units and more than 19,000 square feet of ground‑floor commercial space. JPI plans to build 272 rental apartments on the 68,733‑square‑foot parcel. Of the 272 units, 16 are affordable units.

Jefferson Long Beach is part of a larger plan called Mosaic, which envisions three eight‑story buildings with a combined 900 apartment units and 38,405 square feet of commercial space. The larger Mosaic development covers parcels between Fourth Street and Sixth Street along the west side of Long Beach Boulevard. The project plan for Jefferson Long Beach includes 19,782 square feet of commercial space, three levels of parking with 373 vehicle parking spaces and 58 bicycle parking spaces, a courtyard and pool on level four, and a rooftop deck on the eighth floor. A new pedestrian walkway will connect Fifth Street and Sixth Street west of Long Beach Boulevard and join the existing Promenade south of Fourth Street.

Project‑management book review — Robert Schraeder

The article “How to better manage construction projects: Making construction project management about people” was written by Jaan vanValkenburgh and dated 10/01/25. Jaan vanValkenburgh is Associate Director of Content for the Infrastructure, Energy & Financial Services divisions and editor of a civil engineers newsletter. Contact information for the article author is available as an email address: [email protected].

The review covers civil engineer Robert Schraeder’s newly published book, Ancient Secrets to Project Management: How to Lead and Thrive in Your Professional and Personal Life. Schraeder estimates he has overseen the design and construction of about $4 billion worth of projects over his career, including complex freeways, light rail, dedicated bus lanes and a signature cable‑stayed bridge. The book mixes project‑management advice with lifestyle chapters, weaves Bible verses throughout, and includes documented examples of confrontations and difficult times with partners, owners and colleagues.

Schraeder discusses change orders in detail and recommends documented conversations with stakeholders, dedicated budget allotments and project‑customized processes to manage change‑order risk. The book warns that project‑management software has limitations and that the person running software may not understand all processes it documents. Schraeder cautions against completely delegating responsibility for areas a project manager does not understand and advises PMs to do deep dives into specializations that could create delays. He also cautions against excessive hovering while emphasizing continuous personal oversight and protecting teammates. The book recounts hosting a staff dinner on the bridge the team had recently completed and confirms that the bridge was the Long Beach International Gateway Bridge. Schraeder documents times when intense projects affected his personal life, including a hospital stay, and includes life‑management guidance as part of the book.

The review places the book among useful reference titles and highlights that many U.S. construction projects experience cost and budget overruns that are widely considered endemic. A 2025 survey by solution provider Slate Technologies found that only one in five construction leaders surveyed says they can successfully address project delays, and almost half reported they do not trust cost and time estimates provided by their forecasting and budgeting tools. A 2025 survey by Deloitte and Autodesk found that 37% of construction firms use machine learning and AI, an increase of 11 percentage points since 2023. Project management software is portrayed as a supporting tool in the book and comes with caveats. The book is available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

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Deeper Dive: News & Info About This Topic

Additional Resources

• LB Current: New $126 million student housing project nears completion
• Wikipedia: La Playa Hall
• Construction Dive: Jacobs selected for Port of Long Beach project
• Google Search: Pier B On‑Dock Rail Support Port of Long Beach Jacobs
• Jacobs: Redefining port construction — Long Beach project page
• Google Scholar: Port of Long Beach construction management Jacobs
• LB Post: Demolition begins for Jefferson Long Beach / Mosaic development
• Encyclopedia Britannica: Jefferson Long Beach Mosaic JPI
• WLOX: Rock pile marks progress as Long Beach Harbor construction moves forward
• Google News: Long Beach Harbor rock pile construction

Author: Construction CA News

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