Developers want to build as many as 800 new market-rate apartments in Newport Center, according to an initial proposal submitted to Newport Beach planners earlier this year.
The new housing units will be part of two projects Irvine proposed in a September letter to Newport Beach’s Community Development Authority. A company representative said in an email Thursday that the Planning Commission could consider the plan for a recommendation to the City Council as early as the first quarter of 2025.
“Both communities will provide quality housing that meets the needs of the workforce, including young professionals, of the hundreds of companies within Newport Center,” said Kevin Martin, Irvine’s vice president of development. said in a letter to planners.
The larger of the two projects will replace more than 141,000 square feet of office space at 100-190 Newport Center Drive with 600 luxury residential units. These will be contained in four podium-style buildings, each five stories high. The new apartment complex will have two levels of underground parking and a fitness area. Easy access to restaurants and other facilities.
The proposed structure on Newport Center Drive would rise to approximately 75 feet in height, exceeding the 50-foot height limit under which the proposed site is currently zoned. Developers will need to apply for an exception from the city before moving forward.
Another project being considered in the area would be an expansion of the existing Villas of Fashion Island community, which currently has 524 units. Crews demolished an unused parking lot at 800 San Clemente Drive to make room for an additional 200 apartments.
Preliminary site plans show plans to add 200 units to the Fashion Islands Apartments villas.
(Courtesy of Irvine)
Irvine city representatives reiterated Thursday that city officials are in the early stages of considering both plans. Even if approved, it was unclear how much the project would cost or how long it would take to build.
The Newport Beach-based real estate developer planned to offer all 800 units at market rate, with neither development set aside for low-income tenants. Rent for one- to three-bedroom apartments at Villas of Fashion Island ranged from $5,100 to $8,300, according to the company’s website.
Newport Beach officials had planned to add 2,439 new housing units to the Newport Center area, according to the city’s housing department. The document describes how the city aims to meet the state’s mandate to plan for significant housing growth by 2029.
State officials had asked the city to plan for an additional 4,485 housing units in its latest regional housing needs assessment. A certain portion of that amount will be allocated to low-income and very low-income tenants.
But identifying the right land and developers to take on more affordable housing in Newport Beach’s lucrative coastal real estate market has been a challenge, according to city officials. To compensate, the housing element plans to build 8,175 new homes, far exceeding RHNA requirements and allowing for a significant increase in market-rate units.
