Condominium development in the area around John Wayne Airport has led Verizon Wireless to put off a $19.5 million investment in a regional wireless service facility there.
Verizon, owned by New York-based Verizon Communications Inc. and minority partner Vodafone Group PLC, is concerned about having homes close to its low-profile data center, which serves most of the Western U.S.
Company officials won’t even give out the site’s address for fear of sabotage.
The facility is near Jamboree Road and Main Street.
Plans call for replacing computers, tripling backup generators and adding cooling fans, a Verizon spokesman said.
The backup generators would produce enough electricity to power 6,000 homes.
“We’ve been withholding our $19.5 million investment,” spokesman Ken Muche said. “We haven’t decided whether we will or not.”
Redevelopment Worries
Verizon and other businesses are worried about the city’s plans for the Irvine Business Complex near the airport. The 2,800-acre area historically has been home to industrial and office buildings.
Two condo towers have gone up along Jamboree with another two almost done. Many more are in various stages of development.
The towers are part of the city’s vision of adding homes and shops alongside businesses in the Irvine Business Complex.
The plan has been a boon to some building owners who’ve sold at top dollar to developers. But companies that have invested millions in their buildings there are worried.
They fear that generators, trucks or other noise might keep residents awake, sparking complaints to the city. That could lead to restrictions on their operations, they fear.
Drug maker Allergan Inc., one of the biggest businesses in the area, has gone as far as buying buildings around its campus to pre-empt condo development.
Allergan and Deft Inc., a maker of finishes and coatings, have sued Irvine to try and halt its redevelopment plan for the area.
Verizon’s Wish
Verizon would like to see the city keep the area as is, Muche said, given the millions the company has invested in its 42,000-square-foot center in the past 16 years.
Is Verizon ready to bolt?
“It’s too early to make a decision to walk away,” Muche said.
Verizon, which provides wireless service across the county and traditional phone service to coastal OC, is the county’s second largest telecommunications employer (see story, page 3).
It employs 3,763 people here. Verizon Wireless alone has a five-building Irvine Spectrum campus where 2,500 people work.
Muche declined to give many details on the Irvine Business Center complex other than to say it’s critical to the company’s wireless operations.
Computers there make sure e-mail and text messages are handled properly.
Mayor’s Reaction
“I believe that things will be resolved,” Irvine Mayor Beth Krom said. “Anytime you embark on a project of this nature and begin to evolve an area that has been historically business and commercial, people are going to have concerns.”
Adding housing to the Irvine Business Complex is good for companies there, Krom said.
“There are 80,000 people who come here to work in the Irvine Business Complex, and it creates an opportunity to work and live here, and improve the quality of life,” she said.
“Over time, Verizon and others will regard this as providing access for their employees to have housing and not spend four hours a day on the freeway,” Krom said.
Businesses want guarantees of a 1,000-foot buffer around their facilities. They also want to see updated environmental impact reports from the city.
Krom said a buffer zone could be problematic.
“If you draw a 1,000-foot buffer zone, then you preclude any intelligent planning in the Irvine Business Complex,” she said. “It sounds good. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t achieve what you want.”
Of course, the market could end up allaying some of the concerns of business. Some doubt whether all the condos planned for the area will be built with a slowdown in home sales.
For now, though, the pace of projects under development has quickened. The latest estimate shows 41 projects with an estimated 15,000 condos in various stages of development.
A few of the projects are centered around Main and Jamboree, near Verizon’s center.
Verizon officials say they’re concerned about a proposed 314-home development on four acres at 2900 McCabe Way planned by Los Angeles-based KB Home.
The project includes a condo tower and townhomes.
Construction could begin by next year, said Edwin Sundareson, director of development for the Irvine office of KB Home.
Permitting and zoning issues still need to be completed, according to city officials.
