Linc Housing and Long Beach officials have officially broken ground on Armory Arts Collective, a 64-unit affordable housing project that will turn the city’s long-vacant 1930 armory into homes for older adults. Set in the East Village Arts District, the development is being billed as a three-for-one deal: historic preservation, new arts space, and badly needed senior housing, all in one address.
The five-story project is slated to include 64 apartments, with 56 one-bedroom units and eight two-bedroom units, plus one manager’s unit. About half of the homes are planned to be fully wheelchair accessible. Planned amenities include a community room, an arts and crafts studio, health and wellness areas, bicycle storage, a landscaped courtyard, and a rooftop deck. A resident services coordinator will be on-site to organize programs and activities for tenants, according to the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee.
City leaders at the ceremony
Mayor Rex Richardson and City Councilmember Mary Zendejas joined Linc Housing at the ceremonial groundbreaking. Richardson said the project “reactivates a historic landmark and adds new density near transit,” and framed it as a key move to expand affordable options for older residents living on fixed incomes, as reported by WhatNow.
Adaptive reuse and arts space
The design keeps the former Armory’s Art Deco exterior intact, repurposes the old drill hall for arts programming, and adds new modular, wood-framed residential floors behind the historic shell. Architecture firm Studio One Eleven describes the approach as blending preserved historic fabric with new housing and an 8,250-square-foot art park along Seventh Street, according to Studio One Eleven.
Funding and cost
The project’s financing comes from a stack of public and private sources. The application lists federal low-income housing tax credits, construction and permanent loans from Citi Community Capital, state Infill Infrastructure Grant funds, seller carryback financing from the City of Long Beach, tax credit equity, and private grants from the Wells Fargo Foundation and the Josephine S. Gumbiner Foundation. The total budget is about $45.5 million, including tax credit reservations and other deferred sources, and the project is slated to receive HUD Section 8 project-based vouchers for 48 units, according to the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee.
Timeline and next steps
Linc’s community page lists the site at 854 E. 7th Street and projects completion in 2028, with leasing and application details to be shared closer to that date, per Linc Housing. WhatNow reports that construction is underway and that management and leasing plans will be announced as the work moves forward.
Where this fits in Long Beach’s pipeline
The Armory Arts Collective is one of several recent efforts by Long Beach to add affordable housing for older adults and other priority residents. The city’s 2026 affordable rental housing list flags the Armory project as an upcoming senior development, placing it squarely inside a wider strategy that ties historic preservation to new housing production, according to the City of Long Beach.
For now, the 1930 Armory is on track for a second act as both a place to live and a place to make art, with accessible units and on-site services meant to help older Long Beach residents age in place. City officials say the goal is to keep longtime neighbors in the community while bringing new life to a landmark that has sat dormant for years.
