Searing heat and questions about the strength of the housing market didn’t stop thousands of prospective buyers from kicking the tires at The Irvine Company’s latest housing development.
Home models at Portola Springs, a 2,600-acre development along Portola Parkway near the Laguna Canyon (133) Freeway and Foothill (241) Toll Road, started showing July 15.
The project is just north of Irvine’s proposed Great Park at the former El Toro Marine base. It’s part of the Irvine Co.’s Northern Sphere, a development spanning 7,700 acres in northeast Irvine.
Portola Springs is the company’s second Northern Sphere development, after Wood-bury.
The third and final development, Orchard Hills, should get started in a few years.
Now comes the interesting part for the eight Portola Springs homebuilders.
Sales are set to start this week for some homebuilders after a weeklong preview.
Construction of the first two of five communities at Portola Springs is under way. Some 4,500 homes are planned for Portola Springs in the next 10 years, according to Joe Davis, president of the Irvine Co.’s Irvine Community Development Co.
Models are up for homes at the first two communities and their 10 neighborhoods. The first batch of homes could be ready for people to move in by year’s end, Davis said.
Portola Springs eventually could be home to 11,300 residents in a variety of houses, condominiums and apartments.
Homes range from attached condos for first-time buyers in the 1,000-square-foot range to standalone homes. Condos are set to start at about $500,000, while traditional houses could go for $1 million or more.
The largest standalone homes are being built by Irvine-based Standard Pacific Corp. Some of the homes are as big as 4,379 square feet, with as many as six bedrooms.
Irvine-based California Pacific Homes, led by Cary Bren, son of Irvine Co. Chairman Donald Bren, is building two neighborhoods, as is the local arm of Taylor Woodrow PLC.
Others doing a neighborhood each are Del Mar-based Brookfield Homes Corp., Denver-based MDC Holdings Inc.’s Richard American Homes, Newport Beach’s William Lyon Homes Inc., Los Angeles-based KB Home and Pardee Homes, also of Los Angeles.
For KB Home, the company’s Portola Springs homes are among the first the company has built in OC in several years. Its neighborhood, Bougainvillea, includes two- and three-story homes starting at about $800,000.
An estimated 10,000 prospective homebuyers, braving temperatures in the 90s, toured models on opening weekend, exceeding most of the homebuilders’ expectations.
New homes appear to be dominating the county’s dwindling home sales.
The median price of a home sold here in June was a record $646,000, though the number of homes sold dropped 26% from a year earlier.
The Irvine Co. hopes to draw buyers from Irvine who are looking to stay in the city, Davis said.
That could give Portola Springs an edge over other housing developments in the works, such as Tustin’s Villages of Columbus.
The Portola Springs homes are being built on hilly terrain and flatter areas, adding a layer of complexity to the planning process, Davis said. Some homes on the higher elevations offer views of Newport Beach, about 15 miles away.
About 18 parks and numerous trails are being built among the homes, according to Davis. Schools and a shopping center also are planned.
The center of Portola Springs is set to include a 100-acre stretch of preserved natural habitat.
Company owner Bren, an architecture buff, had a big hand in the design of the homes and parks, Davis said.
