More than a decade ago, developer Bill Shopoff saw an overlooked part of Newport Beach ready for prime redevelopment.
At the time, office parks and light industrial properties dotted the Newport Beach side of John Wayne Airport landscape. That changed when voters approved a plan to shift the area from purely commercial use to a mixed-use district that welcomes residential development.
In 2014, Shopoff and the Picerne Group’s Uptown Newport, a mixed-use project with up to 1,244 residential units, 11,500 square feet of retail space and two acres of park space at 4321 Jamboree Road, became the first big residential project approved in the city’s airport district. The first phase was completed in 2019.
“We had a long vision of housing being in demand in infill locations,” Shopoff, founder and chief executive of Shopoff Realty Investments, told the Business Journal.
“Although it wasn’t prime Newport Beach at the time, we felt there was a big distinction between being in Newport Beach and being just a few blocks over in Irvine.”
City officials said this early project proved that housing could succeed in the area and paved the way for more proposals. There are currently 14 housing projects in the airport area in various stages of entitlements and development. If built out, these projects could add more than 4,100 units.
“That was the first project that really took advantage of the opportunities created by the city’s 2006 General Plan update,” said Jaime Murillo, Newport Beach’s community development director, to the Business Journal.
“It showed the potential of what could be built there and demonstrated that a high-quality residential community could work in the airport area.”
Shopoff said the location is one of the biggest selling points.
“You’re close to the beach, close to the heart of Newport, and you’ve got incredible access to the 405, the 73 and the toll roads,” he said. “Anything in that airport area has great connectivity.
“Newport is the Beverly Hills of Orange County,” he added. “Who wouldn’t want to be here?”
The Business Journal this week is publishing its annual list of the biggest homebuilders in Orange County.
What follows is a map showing the projects already built or under construction or being planned.
John Wayne Condo: $800K Average
Buyers paid a slight per-square-foot premium for a condominium near John Wayne Airport, highlighting an up-and-coming area that’s poised for growth.
In 2025, the median price of a condominium near John Wayne Airport was about $800,000, or $708 per square foot, according to property data provider Cotality.
Meanwhile, the Orange County median sale price was about $820,000, or $641 per square foot.
In data exclusively for the Business Journal, Cotality analyzed 150 condo sales in zip codes 92660, 92612, 92617, 92626, 92627, 92614, 92707, 92782 and 92646.
Cotality officials told the Business Journal that sales volume remains limited, with about 150 independent transactions in the John Wayne Airport area in 2025, making it difficult to compare long-term trends.
