A new $490 million courthouse construction project in downtown Long Beach, Calif., was approved by state officials. Long Beach Judicial Partners is expected to begin building in the spring the long-awaited regional project. The project company’s leader, Meridiam Infrastructure, is funding about $49 million of the project. The rest will come from bank loans.

Long Beach Judicial is finalizing design plans on the new courthouse, which is expected to be completed by 2013 and will be built in the city’s West Gateway on six acres bounded by West Broadway, Maine Avenue, West Third Street and Magnolia Avenue. When completed, the low-rise, L-shaped building designed by AECOM will house 31 civil and criminal courtrooms. The court will occupy roughly 80 percent of the overall space, which totals 531,000 square feet.