Long Beach World Trade Center high-rise sold

Long Beach World Trade Center high-rise sold    The tallest building in downtown Long Beach has a new landlord.
   The $148.9 million sale of the 27-story One World Trade Center tower to Legacy Partners Realty Fund II was finalized last week. The transaction was part of a liquidation plan approved by current owner G REIT Inc.'s stockholders.
   Foster City-based Legacy told the Long Beach Press-Telegram that changes to the building's ground floor retail operations, lobby upgrades and a rebranding effort are in the cards.
   Legacy also owns two other downtown office buildings and several near the Long Beach Airport.
   Built by the Port of Long Beach in the late 1980s, the building was to be the first of three such towers in a massive trade complex, but the late-1980s commercial real estate market collapse halted the development at a single tower.
   Originally designed as a location for trade-oriented companies, the building actually languished with low occupancy rates for many years as the commercial real estate market suffered from a glut of supply. Today, the building is nearly 90 percent occupied with a mix of trade and non-trade related businesses.
   The port sold the building to G REIT in December 2003 for $113.6 million.