A former Unocal Corp. research center in Brea is set to give way to 1,100 homes and 110,000 square feet of stores, restaurants and offices.
Another 250 homes, including apartments and townhouses, are being planned for an area alongside the nearby Birch Hills Golf Course.
Construction of a masterplanned community spanning both parcels could start early next year, with a quartet of local developers working alongside landowner Chevron Corp. for the bulk of the construction.
Chevron acquired the land in its 2005 buy of El Segundo-based Unocal.
The site is set to include homes geared toward people 55 and older, a housing segment that city and development officials say is lacking in Brea and North County.
The empty 120-acre Unocal site is near Imperial Highway and Valencia Avenue. Unocal had operations there for more than 50 years. The company’s research center at the site was shuttered about a decade ago.
Site Empty
Unocal’s old buildings were torn down about a year ago. Among the razed buildings was the Hartley Center, an iconic auditorium designed by noted architect William Pereira.
An environmental impact study for the redevelopment, called La Floresta, should be finalized next month. After that, a 45-day public review is set to take place before Brea’s Planning Commission takes up the issue.
“The best-case scenario is for the project to have its entitlements by the end of the year,” said David Crabtree, Brea’s city planner. “After that, it’s up to Chevron.”
Jim Martinez, project manager for Chevron Land & Development Co., said he’d like to see initial construction start at the Unocal site in early 2007, with work starting on the golf course land later in the year.
Final Pact With City
A final agreement with the city, which would finalize development costs for the project, still needs to be completed, Martinez said.
Chevron also is the master developer of another nearby project, West Coyote Hills in Fullerton. Some residents and environmentalists oppose the 760-home project, which just underwent an environmental study.
As a redevelopment project, La Floresta isn’t as controversial, according to Martinez.
“There’s been a lot of community support for the project,” he said. “They are anxious to see it happen.”
Irvine-based Standard Pacific Corp. is an investor in the La Floresta project and will be heading up most of the homebuilding on the site.
Standard Pacific’s investment in the venture was $12 million as of Dec. 31. The company expects to have the first lots ready for homebuilding by late 2007.
La Floresta is set to have a mix of traditional houses, condos and lofts. About a quarter are set to be designated as “adult active,” meaning a buyer needs to be at least 55.
Another 200 homes are set to be part of an assisted-living complex to be developed by the Newport Beach-based office of McLean, Va.-based Sunrise Senior Living Inc.
“A big component of this (project) is the age-restricted housing, ” Crabtree said.
Village Center
Early designs for the Unocal site include a 16-acre village center.
Plans there call for 110,000 square feet of stores, including 12,000 square feet of restaurants, along with 117 homes and some office space.
Orange-based Village Partners Inc. is leading the village center. The company has worked on a number of mixed-use projects, primarily in the Los Angeles area.
Plans for the village center once included a 65,000-square-foot four-star hotel. That’s been scrapped.
Golf Course
The other part of La Floresta is near Birch Hill Golf Course at Birch Street and Kraemer Boulevard. The executive golf course is about a mile and a half away from the Unocal site.
The city is considering adding more housing alongside the 91-acre golf course. The links would be reconfigured to allow 115 apartments and 132 townhomes to be built there.
Standard Pacific would build the townhomes. Irvine-based Jamboree Housing Corp., which does affordable housing, would develop the apartments.
Traffics upgrades are needed before the projects can go forward, according to Crabtree. Still, most of the basic infrastructure needed to handle the development already is in place, he said.
“We’re looking forward to seeing this,” Crabtree said. “These projects could really change that side of town.”
