Planned Newport Beach project, Residences at 1300 Bristol St., gains city entitlements

Developers of the proposed Residences at 1300 Bristol St. gained necessary entitlements to the land on the unanimous approval of the Newport Beach City Council this week.

The project will replace an existing office building with a 193-unit apartment building that will be constructed on top of an underground 346-space parking structure at the corner of North Bristol and Spruce streets.

City staff confirmed Wednesday that though the project received its entitlements, developers will still need to apply for building permits.

About 169 of the units will be offered for rent at market rate and 24 will be considered affordable housing for low and very low incomes.

The structure is expected to be about 78 feet tall, which associate planner Chelsea Crager said is about six levels above ground and two levels below.

The applicant in the project is the Picerne Group, which operates both One Uptown Newport and the 4400 Von Karman housing development near John Wayne Airport, which received unanimous approval from the City Council in January of last year.

The site is located in what is considered the “airport area” of Newport Beach.

Crager said the Picerne Group is entitled to request incentives due to state housing law. They requested to provide more affordable studio and one-bedroom units instead of two-bedroom units and for the city to waive a half-acre parkland in-lieu fee payment.

City staff said the project is consistent with city zoning laws as well as state environmental law.

Councilwoman Diane Dixon described the applicant’s investment in the airport area as “remarkable,” noting there are now three housing projects being developed by the Picerne Group.

She raised concerns about whether or not the developments in the area would also be able to provide more park and open space for the general public but added that she was supportive of the project.

“This is the future of the airport area,” said Councilman Brad Avery before the vote was taken. “Uptown was a great project. The scale’s right. It’s not over the top. The materials are there. Picerne Group has a track record already in the city, so this is what we need to provide. Not only the affordable, low-income housing and very low-income housing, but we’ve got to supply market-rate housing as well.

“As we’ve all seen, it just gets snapped up as soon as it’s presented on the market in products like this and residential and everything else in this town.”

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