Catalyzing Connections in a Meaningful Way
- Feb 13
- 3 min read
Stephanie El Tawil August 2025
And that’s a wrap on another successful Brokers by the Beach event! For our signature summer waterfront networking mixer, we featured The Waterfront at Catalina Landing.
Most people think of the Catalina Express or a ton of offices when they think of the Landing, but there are some really great retail opportunities that tend to be out of sight and out of mind. Did you know that an average of 500,000 people travel to Catalina Island (Avalon) from Long Beach via the Express each year? That’s nearly 30 trips a day with roughly 500 passengers each way.
You don’t realize the sheer quantity of people travelling via the Express until you’re trying to unload a truck full of party supplies (including melting ice) about 30 feet from their entry. Every hour, there is a flood of rolling bags and large sun hats pushing their way through a trail of taxis and lagging children. My favorite part of this people watching experience was the hyperfunctional father figures carrying every piece of their family’s luggage, moving at warp speed up the ramp as their families casually trailed a distance behind…I really hope they made it on time.
Many of the people I watched board the Express, arrived via taxi or Uber directly from their destination airport just to stand in another very long line to board the boat? Ship? (what’s the difference?). Once boarded, these guests then have another hour plus of travel time before reaching their final destination. After talking to a few of them - because they assumed we worked there, I realized that a lot of them were looking for food. One lady indicated that she had expected a convenience store to be nearby so she could buy some snacks for the “road,” but was sad that her only options were from the sidewalk cart selling Doritos and Chicharrónes.
Less than 50 feet away from this crowded dock is a 4,156 square foot second generation restaurant space primed and ready to serve these hungry patrons. Complete with walk-in freezer, serving counters, and timeless vinyl booths 😀, this conveniently located retail location is also surrounded by a lush patio space and killer view. While touring this impeccably clean facility, all I kept thinking about was the stressed out dads who needed a vacation from their vacation and the tan, sleepy-eyed tourists not quite ready to board another aircraft and head home. These people need a revolving sushi bar, a whiskey gastropub, a private karaoke diner…a place to relax and prepare for or take a break from the headache of travel.
This is the whole point of the Brokers by the Beach events - to bring visibility and awareness for the opportunities available in Downtown Long Beach. To gather commercial real estate professionals in the same space and highlight the amazing assets that add value to our evolving community. To collectively ask ourselves: What’s missing? What fits here? How can we make this better? So, what are your thoughts? As we launch the new amphitheater on the waterfront and prepare for the 2028 Olympics, what type of tourist experiences would you prioritize? What destination business would you put in that strategically secluded, gloriously retro, and seemingly turnkey restaurant by the sea?
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