Donald Bren’s Irvine Company is hoping to build more housing in the city, this time near the University of California, Irvine.
The Newport Beach-based developer previously submitted a zoning change request to the Irvine City Planning Commission that would allow for as many as 2,500 new housing units to be built near UCI, the Orange County Business Journal reported. The commission approved the plans earlier this month.
The vacant site at Irvine Company’s University Research Park is bound by University Drive to the north, Highway 73 to the west, California Avenue to the east and Bison Avenue one block south of the project’s border. City staff cited its location near “major employment centers, retail shopping centers and the University of California, Irvine,” as the perfect reason to build more housing.
Irvine Company hopes to roll out the project in two phases. Phase one would bring 1,233 units to the site, while a second phase would add as many as 1,267 units.
Plans for the development show the first tranche of units built across two six-story buildings and one seven-story building surrounding a recreational area. The bulk of the units would be 853 one-bedroom apartments complemented by 377 two-bedroom units and three studios.
Of those apartments in the first phase, 206 would be designated as affordable housing. An additional 210 affordable units could be built in the second phase.
All of the residences would be built on vacant land in University Research Park. The rezoned land was previously designated for medical and scientific research development buildings or industrial real estate. In total, University Research Park boasts more than 900,000 square feet of office or R&D space.
Elsewhere in Irvine, at the site of the Oak Creek Golf Club, Irvine Company plans to build 1,500 single-family homes and 1,600 apartments as part of its Spectrum District Village project. The project also includes redevelopment of a nearby office complex into a school.
Irvine will need all the units it can get to fulfill its housing goals. The city is on the hook to erect 23,610 new homes by 2029, according to its Regional Housing Needs Assessment.
— Chris Malone Méndez
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