Greenlight sees medical use in center

June Casagrande

Greenlight leaders have taken a public position in favor of a plan

for Hoag Hospital to transform a neighboring, near-vacant office

building into medical offices.

While Hoag officials won’t say whether they hope to acquire the

Newport Technology Center at 500 Superior Ave., City Councilman

Steven Rosansky said that hospital officials have told him they are

interested in purchasing the Newport Technology Center for medical

offices.

“It was my understanding that the hospital was probably looking to

acquire the Newport Technology Center property and there was concern

there might be Greenlight opposition,” said Rosansky, who declined to

name the Hoag officials he spoke with. “I took the initiative to get

in touch with Greenlight to see if they were willing to support that

project and to see if they would write a letter supporting it.”

Hoag officials declined to comment.

The building became the center of controversy recently as the city

has been considering rezoning the building from technology and

research uses to general office use instead.

Greenlight leaders opposed the change because they believe it

circumvented Greenlight law. The building was approved to be built on

the former Hughes Aircraft site on the assumption that technology,

research and development would not bring much more traffic into the

area. For this reason, a Greenlight vote was not required.

Changing the zoning would undermine the reason that a Greenlight

vote wasn’t required in the first place, argued Greenlight spokesman

Phil Arst. He said that general offices would likely generate much

more traffic that the technology-oriented businesses the owner

thought would occupy the site before the dot-com crash changed the

business landscape.

The Daily Pilot has been in negotiations to lease property at the

Newport Technology Center building. If Hoag bought the building, it

would likely mean that the Daily Pilot could not move its offices

there.

Though medical offices generate about three times as much traffic

as regular offices, Arst said the change would benefit the community

in two ways. First, he said, the city is already slated to bring in

more medical offices. Putting some of those offices in the Newport

Technology Center Building won’t bring in any more traffic than would

have come to the city anyway, he said.

Also, Arst added, the city needs medical offices and the vital

services their occupants provide.

“This is a classic example of a beneficial project that actually

causes less overall traffic congestion,” Arst said.

* JUNE CASAGRANDE covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport. She

may be reached at (949) 574-4232 or by e-mail at

june.casagrande@latimes.com.