$300M Orange County Mixed-Use Community In Works
April 12, 2006
By Amanda Marsh, Staff Writer
Another mixed-use community is planned for Orange County, Calif.,
following the urban infill trend in the area. Urban Pacific Builders
L.L.C. recently said that it has signed an exclusive negotiating
agreement with the City of Garden Grove to develop the Brookhurst
Triangle, a $300 million community mixing residential and commercial
space.
The project, at the intersection of Brookhurst Street and Garden
Grove Boulevard, will include approximately 800 housing units,
consisting of two 10-story high-rise towers, three- and four-story
lofts, flats and townhome-style buildings, as well as 30,000 square feet
of commercial and retail space. It will be developed in several phases
and could start delivering the first housing units by 2009.
The site consists of seven acres of vacant land and eight acres
occupied by office buildings, car dealerships and strip malls. The city
had been seeking to redevelop the area before it chose Urban Pacific,
which had been working on designs and proposals for the site since
2002.
Although there are no inked tenants, Urban Pacific Builders managing
partner Scott Choppin told CPN that there have been preliminary talks
with neighborhood-focused retailers such as Walgreens and Starbucks.
Choppin added that there is a big traffic problem in California, and
more residents are looking towards urban villages with walkability and
proximity to mass transit. He said that the development is on the
cutting edge of a new trend towards such mixed-use urban communities,
not only in Orange County, but the entire West. Urban Pacific Builders
has similar mixed-use communities under development in Long Beach,
Calif., Colorado, Oregon and Texas, as well as six others in the
pipeline.
"There's increased interest in places with more activity," John
Shumway, a principal with The Concord Group, said, noting that his
company has seen urban infill jump from 10 to 40 percent in just a few
years. "Cities are striving to keep pace with combination residential
and commercial product."