Getting a development project approved in San Juan Capistrano often can be as much fun,and as slow,as driving Ortega Highway during a bad rush hour.
A few developers with local ties have been willing to make the trip. Along a two-mile stretch of land running just along the east side of the San Diego (I-5) Freeway several large housing and commercial projects are getting under way.
Lake Forest-based Advanced Real Estate Services Inc. has one of the biggest projects the city’s seen in years on tap.
On a roughly 150-acre plot of undeveloped land in the hills overlooking the freeway, the company’s planning 245 homes, boutiques, offices and a horse park.
It’s set to be the biggest development ever for Advanced Real Estate, according to Robb Cerruti, vice president for the company.
The company is best known for rehabbing and leasing apartment complexes in Orange County,it owns about 5,500 apartments.
Tentative plans call for a mid-2009 groundbreaking, after a final environmental study is done, according to Cerruti, who is project manager for the development. That’s assuming the housing market shows signs of recovery.
Advanced Real Estate isn’t under financial pressure to begin its development, according to Cerruti. The project is self-funded for the time being. Investors include Myron Sukut, founder of Santa Ana’s Sukut Construction Inc.
The development covers two areas. Next to the San Juan Hills Golf Club, a roughly 16-acre area development to be known as the Distrito La Novia calls for 140 condominiums and apartments, 68,200 square feet of shops and 27,500 square feet of offices.
Farther up the hills, a 135-acre plot of land to be known as the Meadows will hold about 105 detached homes.
Horse Park
Also on tap for the sprawling Meadows site: an equestrian center with room for 950 horses. It would be the first big horse facility built in San Juan Capistrano in years.
The stables are a big selling point of the development for local residents, according to Cerruti, who lives in the area.
OC counts about 30 stables,down from nearly 50 stables in the late 1980s,which hold some 7,000 horses.
It’s not uncommon for horseowners to have to wait three or more years for a place at a stable to open up. Many locals now keep their horses in Temecula, where more space is available.
Advanced Real Estate bought the majority of the land back in 1999, and acquired its last parcel in 2004. Since then the company’s been working with the city to modify designs, including a big reduction in the number of homes planned.
“We’re reducing the project by 195 units, when all is said and done,” Cerruti said.
The developer also had to resolve geological issues with the biggest part of the property, as well as work around an existing mobile home park that’s set to remain on the land.
Developers looking to build in San Juan Capistrano need to plan on working with the city, said Keith Ross, principal for Irvine-based Centra Realty Corp., which is doing its fourth commercial project in San Juan Capistrano.
In early 2007, Centra paid $20 million for a 19-acre site running next to the freeway to develop a 241,000-square-foot business park known as Ventanas Business Center.
Early plans were for the developer to begin construction in late 2007. But the project was delayed after resident concerns over traffic and the size of the project. Residents suggested cutting the size of the Ventanas project by as much as a third.
The City Council rejected that proposal, instead approving the project this month with a smaller, 12,000-square-foot reduction in size. Ross cited the “cooperative relationship” between the developer and City Council for ultimately getting the project moving ahead.
Both Ross and partner George Peterson (of “The Real Wives of Orange County” fame) have homes in San Juan Capistrano. That helps when dealing with the city, where difficulty getting permits and zoning for commercial projects has driven some developers away in the past.
