Irvine Company plans to add 2,000 apartments to its mixed-use Discovery Park development after unanimous Irvine Planning Commission approval.
The Newport Beach-based firm will build 1,858 apartments near the corner of Laguna Canyon Road and Discovery, the Orange County Business Journal reported. Irvine Company’s plans call for four five-story wrap-style buildings at its Discovery Park community on a vacant lot next to I-5.
The project would include 596 studios, 802 one-bedrooms and 460 two-bedrooms ranging in size from 367 to 1,727 square feet. It would also include at least 310 units of affordable housing for moderate- and very-low-income units, currently defined as a maximum of $114,750 for moderate for one person and $59,250 for very-low income for one person.
Discovery Park’s new addition would also set aside more than 5,000 square feet for retail. The empty land where the project would rise is zoned for medical and science uses but also allows for residential development.
Residents would have access to amenities such as lounge pools, a fitness center, spas and courtyard spaces with barbecue grills. Nearly 8 acres of landscaping and a 2.6-acre park are also planned.
The Irvine Planning Commission voted to recommend the Discovery Park plans the same day it also voted to advance Irvine Company’s proposed 2,500 units near the University of California, Irvine.
Irvine Company is in the midst of a residential construction blitz with a total of about 8,700 homes in the pipeline proposed or being constructed.
A few blocks away from Discovery Park at the Oak Creek Golf Club, Irvine Company is aiming to add 3,100 homes next to its Innovation Office Park. That proposal must still get approval from the planning commission and city council. The company is also set to replace approximately 200,000 square feet of retail space at The Market Place mall with 1,261 apartments.
Irvine Company’s forthcoming projects could help Irvine meet its housing goals. The Orange County city must build 23,610 new homes by 2029, according to its Regional Housing Needs Assessment.
— Chris Malone Méndez