Orange County: Projects and Developments

[JDRCRASH]

'High quality' complex proposed in Santa Ana:

http://www.ocregister.com/news/city-...ect-units.html

[202_Cyclist]

Good find. I grew up in Orange County, so it is interesting to see this area continue to urbanize. Here is a link to a planning document for this project:

http://www.ci.santa-ana.ca.us/pba/pl...T-FinalMND.pdf

It looks decent enough for the area by South Coast Plaza but 650 parking spaces for 278 units? I understand this is suburban Orange County and this will be expensive housing but this is ridiculous.

[ocman]

Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist

Good find. I grew up in Orange County, so it is interesting to see this area continue to urbanize. Here is a link to a planning document for this project:

http://www.ci.santa-ana.ca.us/pba/pl...T-FinalMND.pdf

It looks decent enough for the area by South Coast Plaza but 650 parking spaces for 278 units? I understand this is suburban Orange County and this will be expensive housing but this is ridiculous.

That is excessive. Likely nearly every couple living there will have a car. But what are the other 100 parking spaces for?

[dragonsky]

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[dragonsky]

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[202_Cyclist]

Marina Park lighthouse: 'Overkill' or essential?
Newport officials say the 71-foot tower would be iconic for the planned Balboa Peninsula project. Others contend that it would block views.

Daily Pilot
By Mike Reicher
7/3/2012


Image courtesy of the Daily Pilot.

"Boaters and tourists would be lost without it, Newport Beach city officials say.

By "it" they mean a 71-foot lighthouse that remains on the drawings for the planned Marina Park on the Balboa Peninsula, despite the California Coastal Commission rejecting the tower when it approved the rest of the project in June.

The city Planning Commission will hear arguments Thursday about whether it should make an exception to its bayfront building height limits..."

http://articles.dailypilot.com/2012-...r-city-leaders

[202_Cyclist]

At Orange County's Great Park, plan would double number of homes
In exchange for allowing more than 10,000 homes around Orange County's Great Park, Irvine could receive up to $200 million from the developer. The city releases a draft environmental impact report on the proposal.


"A boy rides his bike through the Palm Courts Arts Complex at Irvine's Great Park." (Christina House, For The Times / July 11, 2012)

By Rick Rojas
Los Angeles Times
July 11, 2012

"Thousands of new homes could be built along the perimeter of a retired Marine base in Orange County that officials envision being turned into one of the nation's great urban parks, according to a proposal being considered by city officials in Irvine.

The proposal from developer Fivepoint Communities Inc. would more than double the number of residences that would be built on the property surrounding the Great Park by changing the zoning of land that had been marked for commercial use and offices, city officials said.

In exchange for doubling the housing to more than 10,000 homes, the city could potentially receive up to $200 million from the developer..."

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...0,582783.story

[dragonsky]

Originally Posted by Orange County Register

Packed O.C. freeways getting new lanes
Local freeways have far surpassed their anticipated capacity, and in an attempt to help relieve congestion, millions of dollars are being poured into them.
Published: July 12, 2012 Updated: July 14, 2012 8:42 p.m.

A major project under way involves connecting carpool lanes on the I-405, I-605, and the 22 so that commuters using those HOV lanes won't have to weave through general lanes to get from freeway to freeway. Since fall 2010, closures have been in progress along those freeways, specifically on I-405 and 22 freeway connector roads and ramps. Also in construction are portions of the 57 and the 91.

Caltrans is widening a section of the I-5 in Los Angeles County by adding 14 miles of carpool lanes between Valley View and Florence avenues.

Although billions of dollars have already been spent in widening the I-5 to as many as 12 lanes from Dana Point to Orange County's northern border, there are two more projects on the way.

In 2013, construction will begin on a $275 million project that will add a carpool lane in each direction between San Juan and San Clemente. In late 2015, work will begin on a $45 million project that will add a second carpool lane in each direction of the I-5 between the 55 and the 57.

Read More: http://www.ocregister.com/news/count...s-carpool.html

[202_Cyclist]

The prominent bond-trading firm, PIMCO, is building a new 20-story headquarters in Newport Beach (Newport Center). I will try to take a couple of photos when we're out in Orange County later this month.


Image courtesy of the Orange County Business Journal.

Built by Irvine Company, Furnished by Pimco
http://www.ocbj.com/news/2012/mar/03...rnished-pimco/

The city of Newport Beach also has some information and another rendering: http://www.newportbeachca.gov/index.aspx?page=2055 .

[dragonsky]

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the former The Block at Orange

[dragonsky]

Originally Posted by Los Angeles Times

New high-tech airships are rising in Southern California
Southland aerospace firms are building the next generation of blimps and other airships.
By W.J. Hennigan, Los Angeles Times
September 1, 2012, 5:34 p.m.

Not since the waning days of World War II have the mammoth wooden blimp hangars at the former military base in Tustin seen as much airship manufacturing work as they do today.

Inside the 17-story structures that rise above southern Orange County, Worldwide Aeros Corp. is building a blimp-like airship designed for the military to carry tons of cargo to remote areas around the world.

"Nobody has ever tried to do what we're doing here," Chief Executive Igor Pasternak said of the 265-foot skeleton being transformed into the cargo airship. "This will revolutionize airship technology."

The Aeroscraft is being built under a contract of around $35 million from the Pentagon and NASA. That's a tall order for Worldwide Aeros, a company of about 100 employees.

Read More: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...,3647034.story

[202_Cyclist]

The bond-trading firm, PIMCO, is also building a 20-story building in Newport Center.

B]19-story tower will rise at Newport Center
[/B]
The Irvine Co. expects to complete the addition to its headquarters in 2014


"This is a rendering of the new Irvine Tower. The Irvine Co. plans to expand its Newport Center headquarters by adding a 19-story tower to its complex." (Image courtesy of the Daily Pilot)

"By Jill Cowan
October 8, 2012
Daily Pilot

"The Irvine Co. plans to expand its Newport Center headquarters by adding a 19-story tower to its complex there, a news release said last week.

Construction on the building at 520 Newport Center Drive is expected to begin early next year and be completed by the end of 2014. Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Architects of New York designed the roughly 300,000-squre-foot tower.

The firm's I.M. Pei is perhaps best-known for designing the glass pyramid in the courtyard of the Louvre Museum in Paris..."

http://www.dailypilot.com/news/tn-dp...,7476842.story

Architect William Pereira's original 1960s Irvine Ranch master plan included the first concept for the tower, the news release said.

[dragonsky]

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http://www.christmasboatparade.com/

[dragonsky]

Originally Posted by Orange County Register

Anaheim clears way for resort-area expansion
Amendment streamlines development process in area around Disneyland Resort.
By ERIC CARPENTER / Orange County Register
Published: Dec. 18, 2012 Updated: Dec. 19, 2012 12:22 p.m.

ANAHEIM – The City Council has cleared the way for a large expansion of the Convention Center and streamlined the development process within the Resort District around Disneyland.

The council unanimously approved the amendment to the Anaheim Resort Specific Plan, the planning document that guides development within the 581-acre resort area.

The Tuesday night approval streamlines development standards and would expedite state-mandated environmental reviews that analyze how projects could generate additional traffic, air pollution and noise, among other effects on the environment.

"(The Resort District) has been a major economic engine of the city," Councilwoman Kris Murray said. "We have to look forward. This is the document that allows us to plan for future growth."

The approval clears the way for the Anaheim Convention Center to accommodate up to:

•an additional 400,000 square feet of Convention Center exhibit space

•180,000 more square feet of commercial space, for businesses such as restaurants and retail

•40,000 square feet of additional meeting and ballroom space

•900 hotel rooms on the city's property

The city-owned Convention Center has undergone five major expansions since it opened in 1967. It now has 815,000 square feet of exhibit space, which makes it the largest exhibit facility on the West Coast.

Next month, the Grand Plaza is expected to open – providing an additional 100,000 square feet of outdoor exhibit space.

City officials cited statistics that show there is reason for optimism about growth in the Resort District. Revenue from the city's hotel-bed tax has nearly doubled in 12 years – from $45.4 million in the 1999-2000 fiscal year to $90.4 million.

Read More: http://www.ocregister.com/news/city-...rt-center.html

[202_Cyclist]

Here is a photo my cousin took a few months ago of the Pimpco headquarters under construction in Newport Beach (Fashion Island/Newport Center). This building is 20 floors.

[202_Cyclist]

Dream Plan Tests Irvine, Calif., Again

Wall Street Journal
May 5, 2013
By ROBBIE WHELAN

"For over a decade, city officials in Irvine, Calif., have dreamed of building one of the most ambitious urban parks in the country. Twice the size of Manhattan's Central Park, with a massive sports complex, lake and man-made canyon, the Orange County Great Park would reinvent a closed military base and anchor a new city-within-a-city.

Now, as the housing market convalesces, construction is set to begin this month on the first new homes in the Great Park Neighborhoods, a new community adjacent to the park that is set to include more than 10,000 homes.

There is only one problem: hardly any of the Great Park has been built..."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...511971918.html

[dragonsky]

Originally Posted by Los Angeles Times

San Onofre nuclear power plant to be closed permanently
Southern California Edison's move ushers in a new era for energy in the region. The effect on rates isn't yet known.
By Abby Sewell, Los Angeles Times
June 7, 2013, 6:47 p.m.

Southern California Edison announced Friday it is permanently shutting down the troubled San Onofre nuclear plant, ending the region's four-decade venture into nuclear energy production.

The decision caps a 16-month debate about San Onofre's future but leaves the utility and state regulators grappling with who will ultimately pay more than $1 billion in costs.

One key question is whether Edison's ratepayers will see their bills increase as a result of either the shutdown or the need to purchase more expensive imported electricity to make up for what was lost from San Onofre.

Edison cited the mounting costs of the outage as the driving reason for retiring the plant.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...,3986075.story