Builders propose residential towers
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Residential high-rises may become part of north Costa Mesa’s skyline,
but only if the city decides that building them will not add to
congestion on nearby streets.
Five residential towers have been proposed by developers. A sixth
proposal calls for an office building that could be transformed
completely or partially into condominiums.
In August, the Costa Mesa City Council voted to allow two
developers, Costa Mesa-based C.J. Segerstrom and Sons and
Chicago-based Fifield Companies, to submit detailed plans for
high-rises at a later date.
Two Los Angeles-based developers, Maguire Properties and McCarthy
Cook & Co., have each proposed a residential tower for north Costa
Mesa.
Before the towers can be approved, city staffers must complete an
environmental impact report that the developers will pay for, said
Kimberly Brandt, Costa Mesa’s principal planner. The environmental
study is not expected to be ready until next summer.
Traffic will be the overriding issue during the environmental
review process, Brandt said. For the city to approve any combination
of residential high-rises, the environmental study would have to show
that condos would not add cars to current traffic projections.
Beyond Newport-Mesa, Anaheim’s Platinum Triangle and the Jamboree
Corridor in Irvine are two places where developers are building
urban-style residences in Orange County.
Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce President Ed Fawcett believes there
is a demand for high-rise living and favors the idea of building
urban-style residences in north Costa Mesa.
“By putting them in here, it gives the high likelihood they
[residents] will be living, shopping and entertaining here without
the drive-through,” Fawcett said.
He believes Costa Mesa streets could become more congested if
residential towers are not built, since people seeking urban
lifestyles could move to nearby cities and drive to Costa Mesa
attractions.
Fifield, which has offices in Irvine, has proposed replacing the
Lakes Pavilions retail center with two luxury condo towers.
Tim O’Brien, Fifield’s West Coast operating partner, said each
building could be about 23 stories tall. The firm is preparing
detailed plans for the proposed project.
O’Brien said the scarcity of land means builders have to go
vertical.
“In Southern California we have no more land. We continue to push
out and push out, and people don’t want to push out anymore,” O’Brien
said.
Likely buyers for the proposed condominiums, O’Brien said, would
include older, affluent couples with large homes and sizable amounts
of equity.
“They’re simplifying their life, [but] they want all the luxury
they’re used to,” O’Brien said.
The news of Fifield’s plans came as a surprise to Avo Kilicarslan,
a restaurateur whose Avo’s Bistro is in business at Lakes Pavilion.
He said his landlord did not inform him about plans that could
lead to his restaurant being demolished.
“I was expecting to be in business for a long time. I was
investing a lot of time and effort and money,” Kilicarslan said. “All
of a sudden, it’s just unbelievable.”
O’Brien said Fifield is still in the process of buying the Lakes
Pavilions center. Kilicarslan’s landlords are Roger and Barbara
Allensworth of Anaheim. Barbara Allensworth declined to comment on
what may happen to Kilicarslan or other tenants at the center.
O’Brien said he did not expect major issues to develop surrounding
the termination of tenants’ leases.
* ANDREW EDWARDS covers business and the environment. He can be
reached at (714) 966-4624 or by e-mail at
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