The city of Irvine will need to seek new sources of funding for the 1,300-acre Orange County Great Park, after state officials ruled the city was not entitled to nearly $1.4 billion in tax revenue following the elimination of California’s redevelopment agencies.
Funding for the massive Great Park project—planned for land that once held the former El Toro Marine Corps air base—has been in limbo for over a year, after Gov. Jerry Brown announced a plan to eliminate local redevelopment agencies. The cuts included an Irvine agency that was slated to raise funds for the development of the Great Park, set for construction alongside the 3,700-acre Great Park Neighborhoods project.
The Great Park Neighborhoods housing and commercial project broke ground this year. Tax revenue from home sales in the development, formerly known as Heritage Fields, also is expected to be used to fund the actual park’s development.
The California Department of Finance recently confirmed that Irvine wasn’t entitled to redevelopment agency funding, and a subsequent attempt by Irvine to get a temporary restraining order to prevent the state from seizing park funds was denied last week.
It’s unclear how Irvine could raise the balance of the Great Park’s funding without the local redevelopment agency, though city officials previously signaled options without providing details.
The 3,700-acre Great Park Neighborhoods project has been in the works for more than six years but delayed due to the down economy. The plan calls for about 5,000 homes and 1.2 million square feet of shops, offices and other commercial development to be built in its initial phase.
It’s been suggested the city could make up some of the RDA funding shortfall by allowing Aliso Viejo-based FivePoint Communities Management Inc., the development manager of the housing and commercial project, to build several thousand more homes on its land. An agreement to boost construction by some 5,800 homes, while cutting back on commercial development, would reportedly bring in about $200 million for the city.
FivePoint has early-stage ground and infrastructure work under way on land expected to hold about 720 homes. The tract begins in the northwest corner of the former base near the Irvine Company-developed Portola Springs neighborhood.
Other possibilities suggested for Irvine to help raise funds for the Great Park—envisioned to include man-made canyons, lakes, fields and numerous amenities—include selling off pieces of the former Marine base, or other parcels of city land.
Scaling back the development of the Great Park is also said to be an option.
