One of the first developments in the Irvine Business Complex to propose for-sale residential development in nearly a decade is proceeding after getting some pushback from a medical device maker whose local manufacturing operations are next to the project.
An affiliate of Fairfield Residential Co. in San Diego this month got approvals from Irvine’s planning commission for a 434-unit residential complex on land it bought early this year along Von Karman Avenue in Irvine, between McGaw Avenue and Alton Parkway.
The land, previously owned by Los Angeles-based Kilroy Realty Corp. and once the site of an industrial building, sold for a reported $26 million.
The nearly 9-acre site at 17150 Von Karman is now slated to be turned into a “dual-concept, multifamily residential development,” according to filings submitted on behalf of Fairfield to Irvine’s planning commission this month.
The project as envisioned would include 71 three-story townhomes, which would be offered for sale. They would run as large as 1,952 square feet.
The remaining 363 units would be built as part of a five-story apartment complex and would have units topping out at 1,382 square feet. The rentals would carry the potential to be converted into for-sale condominium homes at a later date, the developer said in city filings.
It’s the first project that incorporates for-sale homes in the IBC—the 2,800-acre, largely commercial area around John Wayne Airport—since the massive Central Park West development that began to rise alongside the San Diego (405) Freeway before it went on hiatus during the recession and was resumed in recent years.
Initial Resistance
One of the area’s larger employers, B. Braun Medical Inc., initially wasn’t on board with the Fairfield project—now called Irvine Gateway—regardless of product type.
Lawyers representing the Bethlehem, Penn.-based company, which has operated a manufacturing plant next to the proposed development since 1975, said the residential project “would create inevitable land use conflicts.”
The company “faces the prospect of repeated complaints relating to its manufacturing operations,” which run around the clock, the company’s lawyers said in a letter to the city.
B. Braun Medical ranked as OC’s third-largest medical device maker last year by employee count and is the 68th largest employer here, according to Business Journal data.
Roughly 1,450 people work at its facilities in Irvine, company representatives said.
The company had previously recommended that the city put off approving the project at least until additional environmental-related studies are completed.
Those concerns were apparently set aside.
B. Braun “asked for a few concessions” from the developer, which were recently agreed to, said Tim Strader Jr., president of Irvine-based Starpointe Ventures, an entitlement consultant that’s been working with Fairfield on the project.
The manufacturer’s stated concerns are now “a non-issue,” according to Strader.
The project got approval from Irvine’s planning commission at its latest meeting this month, he said.
B. Braun’s stated concerns echo many of the complaints previously lodged about residential developments in the IBC in recent years.
Other Companies
Several other local businesses with long ties to the IBC—including Allergan Inc., Deft Inc. and Royalty Carpet Mills Inc.—had questioned the compatibility of residential development next to industrial and manufacturing businesses.
Those companies contended that IBC residents would complain about noise, truck traffic, and chemicals being used at the neighboring businesses, among other issues.
A number of those businesses have seen their own changes in recent years, and some now appear to be embracing a more pro-development strategy, at least for their own properties.
A 72,000-square-foot industrial building on Alton Parkway that was owned and previously used by Irvine-based carpet manufacturer Royalty Carpet was sold in January for a reported $9.8 million.
The building is being turned into a nearly 217,000-square-foot self-storage facility by its new owner, a Costa Mesa-based entity known as Alton Self-Storage LLC, and likely will cater to renters of the numerous apartment complexes that have been built in the area in the past seven years or so.
Likewise, the owners of a 5.9-acre site on Von Karman that holds the local operations of specialty coatings supplier Deft Inc. are now moving ahead with plans to allow residential uses on its property, according to city records.
Deft was acquired by PPG Industries Inc. in Pittsburgh in 2013 on undisclosed terms.
Apartments in IBC
The IBC is home to about 6,850 apartments. Another 2,055 apartments were under construction in the area as of February, and an additional 4,600 residences were approved but not under construction, according to city records.
Five more IBC projects totaling about 588 apartments were in the preapplication phase as of February.
The city enacted a 15,000-unit cap on residential development for the IBC in 2010, which leaves only a few more sites available for potential construction.
Other IBC sites where for-sale homes could be developed in the future include land along Barranca Parkway that now holds the headquarters of Insteon, a home-automation technology provider.
Early-stage plans were recently filed with the city for a 180-unit townhouse project at the Insteon site, which is across the street from the District at Tustin Legacy shopping center.
