The homebuilder be-hind the recently opened Lambert Ranch luxury home development in Irvine now has its eyes on land near Fashion Island in Newport Beach as a potential residential project.
The New Home Co. is in escrow to buy a 4.25-acre parcel of land in Newport Center next to the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel & Spa, where it would build 79 upscale condos.
The land, located a few blocks from Jamboree Road along Santa Barbara Drive, a shuttered eight-court tennis club once operated by the hotel, which would make way for the condo project.
A timeframe for the sale and a groundbreaking hasn’t been announced.
The plan for now is to get designs for the project to the city by year’s end, said Joe Davis, who heads up land acquisitions at Aliso Viejo-based New Home and directs strategy for its land-buying business, TNHC Land Co.
The New Home Co. would be the second builder to tackle the site as a potential residential project since the last housing boom.
Lennar
Miami-based Lennar Corp. previously attempted to turn the property, located next to the Newport Beach Country Club, into a similarly sized housing project.
Lennar’s proposed project, known as the Santa Barbara Condominiums, envisioned a trio of four-story buildings totaling about 206,000 square feet in all. Homes were expected to run between 2,400 and 4,000 square feet, according to filings with city.
That project never broke ground as the housing market soured. The land remains under ownership of Host Hotels & Resorts L.P., the Bethesda, Md.-based owner of the 532-room Newport Beach Marriott, according to Davis.
The New Home Co.’s plans call for the same number of homes as Lennar’s project, but designs in the works envision a totally reworked project than what was last proposed, Davis said.
It’s expected that the project would be one of the pricier condo projects in Orange County, based on housing and land prices in Newport Beach, not to mention the $10 million in mitigation fees the project’s owner would be required to pay to offset coastal commission and city-related issues, according to filings with the city.
$5M an Acre
Industry sources estimate the land could sell for upwards of $20 million, or about $5 million an acre.
“We’re trying to create something very different,” said Davis, whose company last month held the grand opening of Lambert Ranch, a 169-home gated community located along Portola Parkway in North Irvine that’s among that city’s highest-end developments.
More than 20 homes, which start at prices approaching $1 million, have been sold at Lambert Ranch through mid-May, according to the builder.
Don’t expect the Newport Beach project’s design to mirror that of Lambert Ranch, said Davis, the former head of homebuilding operations for Newport Beach-based Irvine Company.
“We’re not a cookie-cutter type of builder,” said Davis, who started The New Home Co. a few years ago with three former executives at John Laing Homes—Chief Executive Larry Webb, Chief Financial Officer Wayne Stelmar and Southern California President Tom Redwitz.
Irvine Company
The New Home Co.’s plans for homes at the Newport Beach Marriot site is the second residential development eyed for the area around the Fashion Island shopping center of late.
Irvine Company executives confirmed last month that the developer is considering building a 524-unit apartment complex near the intersection of San Joaquin Hills and Jamboree roads, a few blocks away from The New Home Co.’s proposed condo project.
Irvine Co. has filed plans with the city to re-entitle part of its San Joaquin Plaza, a five-building office complex totaling 238,000 square feet, into apartments.
That project, if it moves ahead, is likely still several years away from breaking ground.
