Infill is coming to a street near you

STEVE SMITH

It’s not often that a Daily Pilot story plays so well into my most

recent ramblings, but it happened last Wednesday.

In order to give you the full impact of the point I am about to

make, you need to know about a special structure located 2,000 miles

away.

The John Hancock Building in Chicago is billed as one of the

“world’s most recognized buildings” and while that moniker may be in

dispute, there is no doubt that the 100-story skyscraper is the

world’s most multifunctional building, if not the world’s first most

multifunctional building.

Built in 1969, the Hancock building uses its lower half to provide

parking, stores and offices for businesses up to the 42nd floor.

Retail operations include a supermarket, cleaners and more. From

floors 42 to 92, approximately 700 condominiums provide sweeping

views of Lake Michigan and the city for building residents. The

remaining floors are occupied by a world-class restaurant and an

observation deck. In a city such as Chicago, being able to work, live

and play in a safe, secure location is a tremendous benefit.

Locally, Orange County versions of the Hancock style of living are

emerging as one of the region’s most unique alternatives to the

commuter lifestyle.

On the corner of Main and MacArthur in South Coast (“don’t call it

Santa Ana”) Metro, in what is quickly becoming the county’s second

downtown, BRE properties and the Doubletree Hotel developers have

constructed a multi-use complex that provides residents with all the

comforts of a village in the heart of the city. Think of it as a

horizontal Hancock building.

The development is called Pinnacle at MacArthur Place.

The concept is simple: Provide upscale apartment homes with the

convenient option of shopping and working on the same block.

Pinnacle’s three-story apartments are situated atop an attractive

retail strip center, across from a new Doubletree Hotel and just down

the street from several new office buildings, including the stylish

twin towers at One MacArthur Place and Two MacArthur Place.

Across the street is Hutton Centre, with more offices and

restaurants.

Work it right, and residents can walk to work, walk home for lunch

and walk across the street to Hutton Centre or the Doubletree for

dinner. Their car stays in the garage, and commuting nightmares

become a thing of the past.

Now here’s where the Daily Pilot played right into my hands. Last

Wednesday, readers discovered a front-page story about a market on

the Balboa Peninsula that is closing after 25 years in business.

“We have to get out of here. We really don’t want to,” owner Wes

Hseih was quoted as saying.

While I’m sorry to read of Hseih losing his location, I was more

interested in why they were being forced to leave. It turns out that

the market will be torn down and in its place will go another Hancock

building.

Yes, I am exaggerating. In fact, I’m exaggerating a lot. But

here’s the true part: Where the market now stands will soon be “a new

building which will have retail on the ground floor and residences

upstairs.”

Oh, really? And has this project been approved by the locals, the

same people who complain each year about the summer crowds? The same

people who have gone out of their way to prevent the latest and

greatest development from landing on their doorsteps?

This is another infill project. The old is being torn down and the

new is being built. This time, the project happens to be in a

sensitive area. But then, so is St. Andrew’s Church, and so was

Harbor Center in Costa Mesa.

Like it or not, infill is coming to a street near you. There is no

more dirt, nowhere for developers to turn to do what they do best,

which is ... develop.

Now we can add “Balboa Place” -- or whatever it’s going to be

called -- to the list of controversial projects that includes St.

Andrew’s Church and Marinapark.

There is no use trying to stop these projects. Oh, sure, we may

slow some of them down and get some of them altered, but in the long

run, infill is here to stay, and the pace of infill development in

Newport Beach and Costa Mesa is picking up quickly.

Don’t expect the Hancock building in your backyard next week. But

don’t worry, if it makes financial sense to do it, someone, somewhere

is going to suggest it.

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and a freelance writer.

Readers may leave a message for him on the Daily Pilot hotline at

(714) 966-4664 or send story ideas to onthetown2005@aol.com.