MISSION VIEJO
Auto dealership Park Place Lexus on Marguerite Parkway and West College Road is expanding and being remodeled. The multiple-phase project is projected to cost $15 million. The first phase will include the construction of 116 parking spaces on a Saddleback College site leased to the dealership by the South Orange County Community College District. The spaces will be used to store dealership vehicles. The first phase also includes landscaping along Marguerite Parkway that extends to the college. Later phases call for renovating the existing dealership, expanding the parts and services department and building a parking structure. The dealership is owned by Dallas-based Park Place Dealerships LLC, which bought the former Lexus of Mission Viejo in 2007. Carlile Coatsworth Architects Inc. in Irvine is the project’s architect. Selection of a contractor is in the works.
ANAHEIM
Construction of several baseball fields is under way at Pioneer Park near the Orange (57) Freeway on North Sunkist Street. Major League Baseball and the Angels Baseball Foundation, the charitable arm of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, are spending an estimated $2 million on the project. Work on the 15.8-acre park includes upgrades to an existing Little League field, a new field for disabled children and the addition of a turf area, restrooms, a snack bar and parking spaces. The project is being designed and built by Swinerton Builders in Irvine. The city also has plans to upgrade the playground area with a $150,000 federal grant and $440,000 in development fees. The renovations are part of the MLB’s efforts to invest in Anaheim as it hosts the 2010 All-Star Game in July. The park project is expected to be done just before All-Star festivities in early July.
IRVINE
A Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar is being built at Culver Drive and the Santa Ana (I-5) Freeway at a site that previously was home to Sumo Sushi & Seafood Buffet. The $1.5 million project is expected to be done in July. The developer is Irvine’s Orange County Equity Partners LLC, a franchisee of Minneapolis-based Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. that opened a restaurant in Lake Forest in October. The Irvine office of SD Deacon Corp. of California is the contractor. Chisk Inc. of San Clemente is the architect. Other local Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants are in Mission Viejo, Brea and Buena Park.
NEWPORT BEACH
A Nordstrom is expected to open this week at Fashion Island. Renovations began in early 2008 on the former site of a Macy’s women’s store. The 138,000-sqaure-foot store includes two stories, two restrooms, a salt-water fish tank and an espresso bar and cafe bistro with an outside dining terrace. The cost of the project wasn’t disclosed. Seattle-based Callison designed the building of brick panels with concrete and glass accents. Fashion Island owner Irvine Company developed the building for Seattle-based Nordstrom Inc.
