AltaSea welcomes La Kretz incubator as latest waterfront tenant

AltaSea on Monday celebrated the latest agreement with developer and philanthropist Morton La Kretz, who will bring the La Kretz Blue Economy Incubator to the ground-breaking marine science, technology and business incubator in San Pedro.

Attending the morning ceremony was Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti along with the Dana Middle School band.

The La Kretz Blue Economy Incubator will focus on technology companies creating new business models connecting to the ocean.

Garcetti hailed AltaSea as “a place where scientists, educators, policy makers and entrepreneurs can work together to accelerate marine research that will set an example for the world to follow.”

The grant establishing the new incubator was signed by the Port of Los Angeles in October and will have far-reaching effects, the speakers said..

“Today’s groundbreaking is not just about San Pedro, the port, my district or even Los Angeles,” said Los Angeles City Councilman Joe Buscaino. “Today’s groundbreaking is about our planet and about our future. What happens here will affect generations for years to come.”

It’s the lastest partnership announced for AltaSea, a 35-acre campus being created in San Pedro’s Outer Harbor by revamping the area’s historic warehouses. It offers 4,100 linear feet of pier access to deep water and will place all its partners within close working proximity to one another.

Primarily funded by entrepreneur and philanthropist Morton La Kretz, the incubator will work to support the development of aquaculture, undersea mapping and other businesses related to the ocean.

The new vision is needed, Buscaino said.

“My parents immigrated nearly 40 years ago here to San Pedro to support our family from the bounty of the ocean,” he said. “My father as a commercial fisherman, my mom worked in the canneries. This bounty no longer exists today but it should be restored through the innovation” of AltaSea.

Other partners include Boys & Girls Clubs of Los Angeles Harbor, Ocean Exploration Trust, Braid Theory and the Southern California Marine Institute along with the city and port of Los Angeles.

“The Los Angeles Waterfront is on the rise,” Buscaino said. “Elon Musk’s SpaceX is here, Dr. Robert Ballard is here, Wayne Ratkovich is here with the redevelopment of the waterfront. And now we can add Morton La Kretz to our all-star list.”