A portion of MacArthur Court, one of the larger office complexes in the vicinity of John Wayne Airport, has been targeted for office-to-residential redevelopment.
The plan to repurpose part of the 18.7-acre office campus near John Wayne Airport into 700 residential units aligns with a state mandate to increase housing projects across California.
The Irvine Company, the four-building office complex’s owner, in a Sept. 9 letter to the city of Newport Beach, outlined what the Central Orange County municipality would do with the low-rise portion of MacArthur Court, along with surface parking areas at the campus, to meet the state’s housing mandates.
City officials have identified MacArthur Court and the airport area – a predominately commercial district surrounding John Wayne Airport in Newport Beach – “as a suitable location for new housing due to its significant jobs base, proximity to transportation systems and its existing infrastructure.”
Irvine Co. specifically proposes to redevelop the 18.7-acre MacArthur Court “into a multi-use plan, leaving in place a world-class office campus and adding a 700-unit residential apartment community,” per Irvine Co.’s letter to Newport Beach officials.
City documents show the redevelopment plan would replace 107,000 square feet of office space at 4665 and 4685 MacArthur Court with 700 apartment units.
The project, according to city documents, would add two five-story residential buildings, totaling 677,900 square feet, built around a five-and-a-half level parking structure.
The tallest building, as proposed, would reach 64 feet in height.
A lawn area, designed for community activities, would connect the new residential buildings to the remaining office buildings on campus. City documents show the redeveloped office campus would include more than 37,000 square feet of recreational amenity areas.
About 600,000 square feet of office space at MacArthur Court would remain intact, according to city documents.
City officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this story.
An Irvine Co. spokesperon told the Business Journal that the MacArthur Court proposal is still in its early stages and will require city approval.
Adding New Housing in Newport Beach
The airport area is one of five regions in Newport Beach where the city plans to rezone for housing projects, consistent with California’s mandate.
The Newport Beach City Council specifically approved a plan to rezone the airport area to allow for 2,577 new housing units. The other four regions are Newport Center (2,439 new housing units), Coyote Canyon (1,530), West Newport Mesa (1,107) and Dover/Westcliff (521).
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has set a goal to build 2.5 million new housing units by 2030, saying it will reduce home prices and create more choices.
The state legislature has imposed a series of laws dictating how many units each city must build. Cities that don’t meet the mandates can be fined, lose the power to control their own zoning or be sent into a court receivership and have decisions made for them.
Regional Housing Needs Assessment
Newport Beach approved its plan to rezone the city for more residential developments as part of California’s housing mandate for all cities. The mandate, or Regional Housing Needs Assessment, requires all California cities to allocate several residential units within their respective general plans.
The Regional Housing Needs Assessment specifically requires cities to set aside designated sites and rezone areas to meet the state mandated housing goals.
“The state of California has a serious shortage of housing, which impacts the number of homes available and affordability levels, and the current crisis is a result of a cumulative deficit in housing supply,” the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) said on its website about the Regional Housing Needs Assessment.
