On Aug. 14, the City of Irvine took over ownership of the former All-American Asphalt Plant near the northern edge of the city, as part of a multi-party transaction that saw Irvine Co. donate 75 acres of land to the city for a new, 1,200-unit housing development, which will be overseen by Brookfield Residential.
Documents pertaining to a Sept. 5 Planning Commission meeting indicate one way that Irvine Co. aims to benefit from the just-completed deal, despite giving up developable land now valued at over $500M.
Filings show the Newport Beach-based developer is planning to boost the size of most of the homes for its next big batch of homes at its Orchard Hills community, referred to as The Summit, parts of which sit about two-thirds of a mile from the former asphalt plant.
Existing residents at Orchard Hills, which counts some of the priciest homes in Irvine, had called for the plant’s closure, citing air pollution issues. The city paid $285M to the factory’s owners for its land and is recouping the costs of the purchase via its deal with Brookfield.
Prior plans for Irvine Co.’s forthcoming, 520-home community at The Summit called for homes running from around 2,100SF to nearly 4,200SF, not factoring in garage space.
The new range proposed last week ups the smallest home to around 2,800SF, and the largest home to 4,600SF, city filings indicate.
New homes in Orchard Hills were selling in the $1,300 PSF range as of last quarter, according to data from brokerage Land Advisors Inc.
Assuming the 520 homes – to be built by Brookfield, Shea Homes and Toll Brothers – are boosted by an average of 600SF or so, the cumulative sales for the community could be increased by over $400M, or over $750,000 per home, with the entire project likely to sell for more than $2B, based on current sales trends.
Orchard Hills isn’t the only area where Irvine Co. is plotting new homes; its long-awaited Orange Heights project is expected to see site work begin in earnest this month.
The 1,200-home project will run to the east of Jamboree Road and south of Irvine Regional Park, alongside the 241 and 261 toll roads. For more on the project, see next week’s print edition.
One of the top AI execs in OC has a new job.
Semiconductor co. Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (Nasdaq: AMD) last week announced the hiring of Keith Strier as its SVP of global AI markets.
“His extensive experience and proven track record acting as a trusted advisor to countries and companies uniquely positions him to help accelerate adoption of AMD-powered solutions to meet the growing demand for AI,” AMD CEO Lisa Su said.
Strier most recently served as VP of worldwide AI initiatives at Wall Street behemoth Nvidia (Nasdaq: NVDA), with responsibility for expanding commercial engagements with foreign governments. AMD’s market cap is $226B, while Nvidia is valued around $2.6T.
Strier also is part of the AI working group at the CEO Leadership Alliance OC. His wife, Autumn Strier, is co-founder and CEO of Irvine-based nonprofit Miracles for Kids.
