Compiled by Kelly Ryan
FULLERTON
Six high school and continuing education buildings are under way at State College Boulevard and Nutwood Avenue. The 60,000 square feet of space is set to be home to La Vista and La Sierra high schools. Construction began last year. Four buildings should be done in 2009 and the final two in 2010. The project is set to cost $34 million, including design, construction, furniture and equipment, according to the Fullerton Joint Union High School District. The site used to house a program for handicapped students that now operates from a newly constructed facility at neighboring Troy High School. La Vista and La Sierra high schools are alternative education schools for at-risk students as well as adults and those learning English. The new buildings are designed with wireless Internet access and preinstalled digital projectors. The general contractor is Lundgren Management & Consulting in Valencia.
MISSION VIEJO
An Acura dealership is nearing completion at Avery and Marguerite parkways. Conant Automotive Retail Group is developing the Norm Reeves Acura of Mission Viejo dealership. The project is pegged at $10 million and 68,000 square feet. The site previously was occupied by a smaller dealership built in the 1960s. Plans for the project were approved at the end of 2006 with construction starting last year. Building should be finished at the end of April with a May opening. The dealership is a West Coast pilot store for Acura’s Accelerated Service program, which offers more routine services such as oil changes and 15,000-mile maintenance. The dealership’s service department is set to have 28 bays. Mark McKellop is general manager of the dealership. The project’s general contractor is Kunzik & Sara Construction Inc. in San Marcos.
ALISO VIEJO
Grading is going on for the next phase of a retail center at Enterprise and Aliso Creek Road. The development is the second of four planned phases by Dana Point-based family partnership Parks Diversified LP. Plans call for 45,000 square feet of retail space. Walgreens has signed on for 15,000 square feet. Another 30,000-square-foot building is going up for a Trader Joe’s, Panera Bread, First Federal Bank and three other tenants. Last month a Taco Bell/Pizza Hut was razed and moved to another part of the center. David Klein of Parks Diversified expects to have the building’s frame up in upcoming weeks with building completion in six months. The partnership owns most of the land surrounding phase two of the project. The company plans on starting phases three and four next, which will be mixed-use buildings. Phase three calls for 77,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and entertainment space. Phase four calls for 140 condominiums.
SANTA ANA
Fairhaven Memorial Park Inc. is developing 4 acres to provide room for about 4,800 more burial sites. The cemetery expansion includes three mausoleums, a pavilion for memorial services and a restroom. Two contractors are doing the specialized mausoleum building, in accordance with state laws for such structures. The cost of the current work is about $3 million. Fairhaven also is adding 1,200 lawn crypts to its main grounds, in front of the park’s chapel. The park is at Fairhaven Avenue and Cambridge Street, with 63 acres on its main grounds and 10 acres across the street, which is the site of the current work. Two acres were developed in the 1990s. The latest parcel is set to open in September and house 15 years worth of gravesites. The memorial park then will have 4 more acres to work at the last of its parcels. Fairhaven Memorial now has about 80,000 interments.
ORANGE
A new Best Buy is well under way at North Tustin Street. The 45,750-square-foot store is set to open in mid-July. A separate, 1,700-square-foot space also is being built for another tenant, possibly a Starbucks. Developer and landowner Burnham USA Properties hasn’t signed on a second tenant yet. The 5-acre site used to house a Brunswick Bowl bowling center and a car wash.
