Developers aim to build 1,200 apartments at former Marine base in OC

Mixed-use project by AvalonBay Communities and Abode Communities would cover 20 acres at the Tustin Legacy site

AvalonBay's Timothy J. Naughton and Abode Communities' Robin Hughes with rendering of Legacy Village project at Tustin Legacy (AvalonBay Communities, LinkedIn, City of Tustin)
AvalonBay's Timothy J. Naughton and Abode Communities' Robin Hughes with rendering of Legacy Village project at Tustin Legacy (AvalonBay Communities, LinkedIn, City of Tustin)

Developers have pitched plans to build more than 1,200 apartments at a former Marine Corps Air Station in Tustin.

AvalonBay Communities and Abode Communities have entered into an exclusive negotiating agreement with the Orange County city for a mixed-use development on 20 acres at the former base, now called Tustin Legacy, Urbanize Los Angeles reported.

The joint developers have proposed building Legacy Village, a mixed-use project which would construct more than 1,200 apartments – 25 percent to be set aside as affordable for households earning between 30 and 80 percent of local median income.

The multi-phase project would include 5,000 square feet of shops and restaurants, about 2,500 square feet of co-working space and seven acres of public and private open space.

The exclusive negotiating period is expected to last nine months, during which the developers are expected to reach an agreement on development, disposition and project entitlements with the central OC city along Interstate 5.

Other components of the 1,600-acre Tustin Legacy site include Flight, a 38-acre office complex built by LPC West, which features more than 470,000 square feet of space.

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AvalonBay Communities, a real estate investment trust based in Virginia, and Abode Communities, a nonprofit developer based in Downtown Los Angeles, have teamed up on other building projects.

The two firms are redeveloping the eight-acre West Los Angeles Civic Center with a similar project, including more than 925 apartments, city offices, a community center, shops and restaurants and open space.

In October 2020, AvalonBay secured $167 million in financing to build a 475-unit, mixed-use project in the Arts District. It was slated for completion this year.

Last month, Adobe secured $22.4 million in financing to build a 90-unit supportive housing complex for homeless and disabled residents in San Pedro.

[Urbanize Los Angeles] – Dana Bartholomew

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