Editor’s note: This story is part of “Rising Up,” a monthly series focusing on new development projects in Long Beach.

A Central Long Beach property, home to a mix of repair, registration and rental businesses for cars and trucks will soon be the site of 65 new condos.

The 1.1-acre site, located at 1400-1452 Long Beach Blvd., has long held First Class Auto, FA Auto Repair, Montana Capital Car Title Loans and Fast Pass Test Only. But all of that will soon be demolished to make way for a four-story, 69,000-square-foot housing development, which will include 2,100 square feet of ground-floor retail space.

Representatives for the builder, Long Beach Square Partners, LLC, did not respond to requests for comment.

But during a Planning Commission meeting in June — in which the panel’s members gave their blessing to move ahead with the project — one of the developers, Rick Scott, said his team had worked for more than two years to design it.

“We’ve studied arduously to try to get the right balance of aesthetics and cost efficiency,” he said.

The building will use stucco painted five different colors ranging from light beige to dark gray to deep red. Exterior accents will include ribbed metal siding and blue cement panels.

Scott did not say how much he expected the market-rate one-, two- and three-bedroom units to sell for.

But neighbors who showed up to the meeting said they had other concerns. Specifically, folks who spoke during public comment said they worried about how the development, which would route cars through the Alamo Court alley to access parking, would impact traffic.

Bernice Madariaga, who owns a 16-unit building on Elm Avenue that also uses the narrow Alamo Court for parking access, said more traffic through the alleyway would be untenable.

“If you’ve seen that alley, it’s kind of tight,” she said. “So that’s a main concern for our residents, our neighbors and for fire and safety.”

In response to Madariaga’s and others’ concerns, city planner Scott Kinsey said the alley will not remain in its current state once the project goes up. The plans included a two-foot dedication for the alley, which would add more room for two-way traffic on Alamo Court.

“I drove through that alley yesterday evening,” Kinsey said, “and I can tell you, in its current state, it is pretty narrow, and it’s difficult for two vehicles to pass side-by-side. But with the two-foot dedication, it should definitely help.”

Some locals also said they hoped they wouldn’t have to deal with the side effects of construction for too long.

Scott responded by saying that although he expected the permitting and building process to take another 2 ½ years, the actual construction would only comprise about 15 months of that timeline.

In addition to the condos and commercial space, Long Beach Square Partners, LLC, agreed to allow the city to create a 12,000-square-foot parklet along Long Beach Boulevard and 14th Street.

That parklet would close 14th Street to traffic, but Kinsey noted the portions of the road that would be cut off from traffic “were found to be very low-volume” and the closure “would not create a negative traffic impact.”

Planning Commissioner Andy Perez, for his part, said he was thrilled with how the project could revitalize the area.

“This is an exciting project,” he said. “I think this a great opportunity to construct a 12,000-square-foot park, that I would highly recommend that we have staff continue to pursue that down the road, to make that happen.”