A year into the job, Colm Macken, head of Aliso Viejo’s Shea Properties, is starting work on the developer’s biggest project yet in Orange County.
Macken said he has big plans for Shea Properties’ next local project, overseeing about half of the 1,500-acre redevelopment of Tustin’s former Marine helicopter base.
“We’ve got 820 acres to play with,” said Macken, a former executive at Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises Inc. who replaced the retired William Gaboury at the start of 2006.
Shea Properties, the commercial development arm of Walnut-based J.F. Shea Co., has been busy in South County as of late. It also has projects elsewhere in California, as well as in Arizona and Colorado.
The Tustin project ranks as one of the largest remaining developments in the county.
“We’re running out of land,” Macken said. “If you have the entitlements, you have to go for it.”
Shea Properties is working with Shea Homes, a homebuilder that’s also part of J.F. Shea, Dallas-based Centex Corp. and the city of Tustin on Legacy Park at the former base.
Legacy Park calls for 2,100 homes and 6.7 million square feet of offices, restaurants, shops and hotels in the next six to eight years. The entire Tustin site is set to see about 4,500 homes.
The local office of Miami’s Lennar Corp. and Newport Beach’s William Lyon Homes Inc. and John Laing Homes are building another 2,500 or so homes elsewhere on the former base.
Macken said he puts a development price tag on Legacy Park at about $3 billion. About two-thirds of that is tied to commercial development, with the rest being for homes.
There’s little chance of a change in plans in the event of a prolonged slump in housing or a downturn in the office and other commercial markets, Macken said.
The project broke ground last month. There are two main sections to Legacy Park, along with 170 acres of parks and open space.
The first section calls for about 1,300 “suburban OC” homes along Edinger Avenue and Jamboree Road, Macken said.
The second phase, closer to Warner Avenue and Barranca Parkway, has a more urban feel, he said.
Tied together by Main Street with hotels at both ends, the second section has the bulk of the project’s office space, alongside restaurants, shops and about 800 townhomes and mid-rise condos.
“It’s a blend of Los Angeles County and Orange County, where West L.A. meets the beach,” Macken said.
The hotels are drawing the most interest, Macken said. Plans call for 500 rooms, with one luxury or boutique hotel alongside two other chains. Shea is in talks with a handful of hotel companies. A decision could be made early next year, Macken said.
Expect to see the Tustin offices resemble those being built by The Irvine Company for chipmaker Broadcom Corp. in Irvine’s University Research Park.
Shea Properties recently hired away Steve Center, an Irvine Co. executive, to lease up the Tustin project. Center, Shea Properties’ senior vice president of leasing, served as regional vice president of leasing in San Diego for the Irvine Co. for the past three and a half years. He handled about 4.6 million square feet of office space for the Newport Beach-based real estate owner.
The Tustin push comes as Shea Properties is making progress at a site just down the street from its Aliso Viejo headquarters.
Close to 250,000 square feet of office space is nearing completion at Vantis, an office and condominium project being overseen by the company. Among the buildings is a 177,000-square-foot office building for the local office of Seattle-based Safeco Corp.
Another three buildings, totaling about 435,000 square feet, also are planned.
The first of nearly 400 condominiums and lofts, being built by Shea Homes, are nearly done at Vantis. The homes overlook Aliso Viejo Town Center and run from about 900 to 1,600 square feet.
The homes start at about $100,000 less than the county’s $625,000 median price, said Bradley Pontius, vice president of development with Shea.
