Irvine Company Buys Land for 1,300Homes in Tustin

Donald Bren’s Irvine Company has paid $42.1 million for enough land in Tustin to build more than 1,300 homes atop a former U.S. Marine Corps air station.

An affiliate of the Newport Beach developer bought 19.4 acres of city-owned land bounded by Warner Avenue, Legacy Road, Tustin Ranch Road and Compass Avenue, the Orange County Register reported.

The deal, brokered by CBRE, works out to nearly $2.17 million an acre. Irvine Company also agreed to spend $9.6 million on developing infrastructure.

Plans for the project, dubbed Tustin Legacy, include 1,336 apartments, of which 334 would be set aside for lower-income households. That represents roughly 25 percent of the project earmarked for affordable housing.

A cost and timeline for the development, or whether it has been approved by the city, were not disclosed.

But don’t expect the wide suburban streets of more than a half century ago.

Tustin planners said the project was specifically designed with narrow streets to promote pedestrian activity and limit car use.

The project is part of a Tustin Legacy Specific Plan adopted by the city in 2003, a few years after the air station closed.

The plan now calls for redeveloping the 1,600-acre former base with 4,258 homes, 1.6 million square feet of offices, shops and restaurants and more than 90 acres of parks.

Irvine Company, owned by the nation’s richest developer, Donald Bren, traces its roots to a 19th century ranch.

The firm owns 129 million square feet of property, including 590 office buildings, 125 apartment complexes with 65,000 units, 40 shopping centers, a coastal resort, three golf courses and five marinas across the U.S., of which 65 percent is in OC, according to its website.

In the past few years, Irvine Company has proposed thousands of homes in Newport Beach, Irvine and Tustin.

— Dana Bartholomew