Newport Center Targeted for Affordable Housing Development

The City of Newport Beach is considering the addition of residential density and affordable units with the redevelopment of a commercial site that overlooks a country club in the Newport Center district.

Officials are weighing plans that would call for the teardown of a building that houses a Chase Bank branch, at 1470 Jamboree Road, to make way for eight-floor, 120-unit apartment development, the Orange County Business Journal reported, citing public documents.

The project would be within walking distance of the upscale Fashion Island shopping center and overlook a portion of the golf course of the Newport Beach Country Club. Plans call for an unspecified number of affordable units ranging from studios to three bedrooms.

A go-ahead on the plan would require approvals from the planning commission and City Council of Newport Beach.

The proposal comes from David M. Ellis and Romy Simone Ellis, both of whom serve as trustees of the Ellis Family Trust, which co-owns the existing, 112,000-square-foot building on the site. The Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce also is a co-owner, according to CoStar.

The Ellis plan isn’t the only one to glimpse the redevelopment potential for Newport Center commercial sites into multifamily properties. The owner of nearby 12 Corporate Plaza recently filed plans to raze an 18,000-square-foot low-rise office building there to make room for a 76-unit apartment complex. The would-be developer, identified in documents at Lori Junkins, is an owner of the existing building on site.

Related Companies last year pitched the idea of tearing down a movie theater in the area to build a pair of condominium towers with 140 units at 210 and 300 Newport Center Drive.

Newport Beach has been working to increase affordable housing, with a state-mandated plan to build 4,845 homes by 2029, including 2,386 affordable units for low- and very low-income households.