The Irvine Company is in talks with the city of Irvine on a sweeping plan to add 6,000 homes, condominiums and apartments around the Irvine Spectrum.
The projects would cut the Irvine Co.’s allotment to build commercial space in the area by 3.4 million square feet.
The plan could lead to the relocation of two of the county’s entertainment venues next to the Spectrum: Verizon Wireless Amphitheater and Wild Rivers, city officials said.
The key point of the Irvine Co.’s plan is to develop 3,700 houses, condominiums and apartments directly across from the Spectrum, west of Irvine Center Drive and southeast of the San Diego (I-405) Freeway. Its plans are for a 600-acre swath of land, which currently includes the amphitheater and water park as well as open space.
Wild Rivers has talked with Miami-based homebuilder Lennar Corp. about moving to the former El Toro Marine base, according to a source. Lennar is redeveloping the base into residential, commercial and retail space. It’s not clear how far the talks went.
The future of the amphitheater also is hazy. Verizon’s lease with the Irvine Co. runs to 2017. Michael LeBlanc, a senior vice president with the Irvine Co., said the developer is set to honor Verizon’s lease.
Irvine Co.’s housing plans could help restore the balance between jobs and housing in the city and also create more open space, LeBlanc said.
“We think this will help fulfill an important need of the city of Irvine,” he said.
Not having a commercial airport at the former El Toro Marine base,as once was proposed,has opened up more land to the potential for housing, LeBlanc said.
The Irvine Co. also is looking to build 1,600 apartments next to a project of similar size already under development directly across from Irvine Spectrum Center retail mall. The site is zoned for residential.
The killing of an airport also shifts the future of the Spectrum away from potentially becoming a major shipping hub, said Brian Fisk, Irvine’s manager of planning services.
City Council members didn’t raise major objections to basic elements of the plan discussed during a study session in April, according to Mayor Beth Krom.
“I’m certainly receptive to see what they are proposing,” Krom said.
The project is undergoing an environmental impact study. The draft is set to be done and available for review in December.
The proposal could go before the Planning Commission in February and the City Council again in April, city documents show.
Part of the Irvine Co.’s plans also seek to change the location and mix of 750 planned housing units near the intersection of Laguna Canyon Road and a proposed extension of Bake Parkway. The developer now wants to spread the units so density is reduced, according to city officials.
City documents show the Irvine Co. would cut by 2.6 million square feet the amount of research and industrial space it has entitled for an area bordered by the San Diego and Santa Ana (I-5) freeways as well as Lake Forest Drive and Irvine Center Drive.
As part of its plan, the developer also would reduce by 800,000 square feet the amount of commercial space it has allotted for a triangle bordered by the two freeways and Laguna Canyon Road.
“We do have commercial development there that could have been utilized some day over time,” the company’s LeBlanc said. “We thought it made more sense to convert some of the unused intensity to residential.”
Housing Crunch
Experts tend to agree the county is suffering from a housing crunch. But the acceleration of transforming commercial sites to housing in recent years raises some tricky questions, according to Irvine’s Fisk.
He said some businesses are leaving Irvine’s popular commercial hub near John Wayne Airport as more housing developers target the area.
Fisk said it’s not clear where they’ll go.
In all, there are 26 housing projects under construction or nearing city approval in the Irvine Business Complex.
Other cities, from Yorba Linda to Lake Forest, are considering proposals to swap commercial space for housing.
In Anaheim, homebuilder Lennar and other developers plan condominiums and apartments on several sites at Platinum Triangle. Millions of square feet of older industrial and office buildings are set to be razed to make way for housing.
