About

Mark Omid Akhavain graduated in 1990 from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), with degrees in electrical engineering and visual arts. He transferred love of design and historic restoration to his Long Beach, California, Ocean Center Building at Pine Ave. and Ocean Blvd. Situated in the midst of the convention, entertainment and amusement district at the most prestigious intersection in downtown Long Beach, Akhavain’s Ocean Center Building  is a focal point of the Long Beach skyline.

“In addition to being an office complex, we have space and facilities in the Ocean Center Building to plan a variety of events,” Akhavain said. “There are all types of areas to accommodate different needs and sizes of groups and functions.”

Akhavain and his Ocean Center staff plan and host receptions, social and business events, book, product and media parties, trade announcements, technology and job seminars, music industry release celebrations, and even car shows. “During the Grand Prix, we had a car show on the lawn in front of the building that featured several 2011 show cars,” said Akhavain. “That was in conjunction with a very successful private Grand Prix celebration at our rooftop garden, where lots of race car drivers, celebrities and other guests attended.”

Akhavain’s career is far from its modest beginning in 1990 when he graduated from UCSD. “I was very hopeful when I came out of school with my degrees,” Akhavain said. “When I finally landed a third interview with Hewlett Packard, I was elated because the job market had become very tight at that time.”

Not being selected for a Hewlett Packard position may have led Akhavain to the professional independence he enjoys today. When he didn’t get the job, Akhavain decided to lean upon his own creative gifts and not depend on what commerce could do for him, but what he could do for commerce, using his arts training to start a clothing line.

“I bought one sewing machine and hired one person to help me sew garments,” Akhavain said. “I secured a contract to provide 500 pairs of men’s pants that I made based on a pattern, which had been given to me. When I was done with the order, I was informed that the pants were sewed backwards. I was devastated, but not defeated when I had to eat the cost of all the material and work that had gone into the pants order."

Seeing potential in the clothing industry, learning from his previous experience and enjoying the work, Akhavain started a clothing line, which he named, GOGO. “I entered the clothing design industry with a borrowed $5,000 from a relative,” Akhavain said. “My art background lead me into hand-painted shirts and other garments, which sold as many as 5000 units per day, at swap-meets in New York and California, and designer boutiques across America. To meet demand, I had to get a warehouse in El Monte. My hand-painted clothes were carried at Sears, Wal-mart, Nordstroms, the Home Shopping Network and OnePrice Clothing.”

Akhavain was selling 100,000 pieces per month for five years until the market became flooded with similar items. Later, he began to design other styles of clothing made of the finest leather and became associated with prestigious Italian clothing markets. He acquired his leathers and other fabrics from Italy, Argentina and Spain, manufacturing clothing for Nordstroms and Macy’s. Akhavain’s items retailed between $600 to $1200 each.

“This venture lasted for two years,” Akhavain said. “Daily changes in fashion and risky taste and market fluctuations caused me great stress and burnout. I knew I had to do something different. So I got into real estate and historic building restoration, a field in which I can still use my artistic background and creative energy.”

In addition to his historic restoration of the Ocean Center Building, Akhavain has other projects, inluding the Ohotel in downtown Los Angeles at the heart of the financial district. The first in a chain of boutique hotels and the first independent boutique hotel accommodations in downtown Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Ohotel is a 1920s building in which every detail was completely restored before it opened in 2007. LA Ohotel provides a perfect environment for local guests, as well as business travelers who want to be near the Staples Center, Los Angeles Convention Center, Kodak Theatre, Hollywood Walk of Fame, Sunset Strip, Pantages Theatre, NoHo Arts District and Santa Monica Ocean Front Walk.

The LA Ohotel’s sixty-seven luxurious rooms have queen-size beds, flat screen televisions sets, iPod docking stations, complimentary high-speed internet connections, designer furnishings and contemporary yet functional stylings. Opening soon are Ohotels in other coastal California locations--LAX, Newport Beach and San Diego. Akhavain also has California building and restoration projects in Santa Monica and Orange County, and out-of-state projects in Texas and Arizona.