The Irvine Company hasn’t abandoned its homebuilding plans on the northern edge of the Irvine Ranch, despite its intentions to donate a large chunk of land there to the county.
The Newport Beach-based company announced last week that it plans to donate about 2,500 acres of undeveloped land near Anaheim Hills and East Orange.
The land was slated to hold about 5,500 homes, although the county’s largest land owner had never disclosed a time frame for development there.
What wasn’t mentioned in last week’s announcement: As many as 1,000 homes are still on the drawing board near one of the areas in East Orange where the company is giving away land.
And the homes’ construction appears to be on a much faster schedule than what was expected for the land that’s being donated to the county.
The roughly 450-acre project, known as Santiago Hills II, could begin in three to five years, according to Irvine Co. officials.
The proposed homes site sits just south of Irvine Regional Park between Jamboree Road and the 241 and 261 toll roads.
Santiago Hills II “will complement existing communities and concentrate neighborhoods west of the toll road,” said Dan Miller, Irvine Co. senior vice president of entitlement.
An additional 1,400 acres of rural land on Santiago Canyon Road near Irvine Lake in East Orange are part of the land gift announced last week. That land could have supported another 3,000 homes, according to Irvine Co. documents.
The company previously expected development on the 1,400-acre site to start after the Santiago Hills II project that’s still on the boards. The 1,400-acre site includes land next to the now-shuttered Santiago Canyon landfill.
Also being donated is an 1,100-acre development site in Anaheim known as Mountain Park near the intersection of the Riverside (91) Freeway and the 241 toll road.
The site, whose development has been on the drawing board for more than 20 years, was once expected to hold close to 8,000 homes, according to news reports.
Negotiations over the years pared down development plans for that location—an area also known as Gypsum Canyon—to 2,500 homes.
Irvine Co. no longer has plans for residential development in the immediate area of the Anaheim site. A public school that was also expected to be built next to the development is also now off the books, along with some other amenities.
Real estate sources familiar with the Irvine Co. said the 450-acre East Orange site the company is retaining is likely a significantly easier and less costly site to build homes on than the 2,500 acres being donated due to topography and lack of infrastructure in the land that’s being donated.
The Santiago Hills II site, a few miles from the northern edge of Irvine Co.’s new Orchard Hills community, also holds less sales risk for the developer than the Anaheim site due to its proximity to Irvine, according to sources.
Last Big Gift
Plans for the land donation were presented to the Orange County Board of Supervisors this month. A land transfer to the county is expected by early next year, assuming the deal receives the board’s sign-off.
It’s unknown what tax benefits or other financial savings will be coming Irvine Co.’s way as a result of the donation or how much it will cost the county to take over ownership of the land.
Executives with OC’s dominant real estate company pointed to its long history of setting aside land on the Irvine Ranch for open space as the key reason that guided the donation.
“As we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Irvine Co, this is a perfect opportunity to add to our open space and parklands legacy,” Chairman Donald Bren said in a statement.
The deal is expected to be the last significant donation of land from Irvine Co. to the county and should bring the amount of preserved space at the 55,000-acre Irvine Ranch to about 60%.
“With this gift, we complete our open space vision,” Bren said.
The developer said the newly gifted lands span an area equal to the size of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park and San Diego’s Balboa Park combined.
