The owners of the Avenue of the Arts Wyndham Hotel are moving ahead on plans to build the first high-rise condominium tower in Costa Mesa’s arts district.
Rosanna Inc., an affiliate of the Wincome Group, a Hong Kong-based real estate owner and investor, has filed plans with the city to build a 23-story, 100-unit luxury condo tower on land it owns next to the Wyndham at 3350 Avenue of the Arts.
The developer bought the hotel and adjacent land in 2009 and renovated the property to its current four-star status.
The site is a short walk from the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, which is a block away from South Coast Plaza.
A hearing on proposal for the condo tower is expected to be taken up by Costa Mesa’s planning commission this week.
Filings with the city suggest the condo project and an accompanying parking structure with about six levels are both on the fast track.
A city approval could clear the way for construction on the new parking garage to begin as soon as next February. The 422-space structure could be completed 10 months later.
Construction of the high-end residential tower would begin after the parking structure’s completion, with a finish date now estimated for June 2018, according to city filings.
Skyline
That timeline would likely make the project the first high-rise residential project in the South Coast Metro area—which takes in the arts district as one of several sections—to break ground since the two-tower Skyline at MacArthur Place project opened in 2008.
The Skyline’s 25-story towers are now known as Essex Skyline. The project was originally intended to be condos but was turned into a rental property under its current ownership.
The Avenue of the Arts project also would be the first of several high-rise residential projects in Costa Mesa’s ritzy restaurant, shopping and arts center to move ahead since the city issued approvals for various proposals in 2007 and 2008.
Six high-rise projects—including an earlier plan eyed for the Wyndham site—were initially approved, but the subsequent recession quickly put those plans on hold.
Two of those high-rise developments have since been downsized into midrise apartment projects, and they appear likely to see construction move ahead over the next year.
One of those midrise rental projects is next to the Wyndham, at the current site of the Lakes Pavilions retail center along Anton Boulevard.
That project’s developer, Foster City-based Legacy Partners, has indicated it wants to break ground on an upscale apartment complex this summer.
Limited Occupancy
A three-level, existing parking structure next to the six-story Wyndham Hotel would be demolished in the first stage of the condo tower’s construction.
That will require the 238-room Wyndham to operate with limited occupancy—estimated to be just under 100 rooms—during the new parking structure’s 10-month construction period.
The condo project, which sits across the street from the eastern edge of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, is designed to complement other buildings and artwork in the vicinity.
Features of the tower include “aluminum cladding and curvilinear vertical projections complementing the Symphony Hall and the metal sculpture referred to as ‘connector,’ ” planning commission filings said.
Plans for the tower’s residences range from one-bedroom units running as small as 900 square feet to three-room duplexes as big as 2,650 square feet, according to documents filed with the city.
The tower’s units will be for-sale condos, not rentals, said Paul Sanford, asset manager for Rosanna Inc. and general manager for the Wyndham.
Anaheim, Too
The Costa Mesa condo project is one of two development projects that Wincome and its affiliates are believed to be eyeing in Orange County.
The investor last year bought Anaheim Plaza Hotel & Suites, a 300-room hotel at 1700 S. Harbor Blvd. across the street from the Disneyland Resort. The property is estimated to have sold for $47 million, according to brokerage data.
The Anaheim property, a 1960s-era, apartment-style hotel is expected to be redeveloped by its new owners, although no concrete plans have been announced to date.
Other Properties
Wincome Group and its affiliates also own two other hotels in Anaheim; the 358-room Anabella Hotel next to the Anaheim Convention Center on Katella Avenue, and the Carousel Inn and Suites, a boutique hotel across the street from the Disneyland Resort.
It also owns office, retail and residential developments in Hong Kong, Japan, and Europe, according to the company.
The investor paid $21 million in a foreclosure auction in 2009 for its Costa Mesa property. The deal included the hotel, which previously operated under the Wyndham Orange County name, and the land where the new parking lot and condo tower will be built.
Wincome put in $16 million in renovations to the Costa Mesa hotel, including upgrades to guest rooms and event space, as well as a restaurant expansion.
Last year the boutique hotel got its first AAA Four-Diamond designation.
Prior ownership at the hotel got city approvals in 2008 to build a 120-unit condo tower on the Avenue of the Arts land, along with a lounge and bar area, and some retail space. It was initially expected that the Wyndham would close during the condo tower’s construction.
The revised development plans from Wincome affiliate Rosanna Inc. eliminates the retail and dining options, and cut back the condo unit count to 100 residences.
The hotel will remain open during the construction, despite temporarily having a smaller occupancy limit, Sanford said.
