Builders say land scarce

Andrew Edwards

Newport-Mesa is running out of room.

With some exceptions, such as Newport Coast and north Costa Mesa,

developers are almost out of space to build new neighborhoods.

However, that doesn’t mean builders plan to leave Newport-Mesa alone.

Homebuilders at Newport Beach-based John Laing Homes are eyeing

Costa Mesa’s Westside for future “infill” projects. Infill is a term

used to describe new building in the middle of older neighborhoods.

“There are huge opportunities for it in Costa Mesa,” said Dan

Flynn, vice president of land acquisition for John Laing Homes.

“Westside’s all built out, but there are going to be many, many new

opportunities for housing.”

John Laing Homes has a full-time employee whose job is to look for

land in Costa Mesa, Flynn said. In March, the Costa Mesa City Council

approved a revitalization plan for the Westside, allowing industrial

areas to be rezoned for live-work buildings, lofts, condominiums or

clustered homes. The council went beyond the rezoning plan

recommended by a citizen’s committee that attempted to balance the

interests of industrialists with those seeking more homes on the

Westside.

Costa Mesa officials may actively seek developers to build homes

in the Westside this fall, assistant development services director

Mike Robinson said, noting he expects the City Council to approve the

zoning amendments and ordinances necessary for new homes around

October or November.

When home construction starts on the Westside, Robinson said

builders will be challenged by the difficulties of adding residences

to a historically industrial area.

Developers likely will have to take steps to improve landscaping

and build sound walls to insulate new neighborhoods from the

surrounding area.

“The first couple through the gate are going to be a tough fit,”

Robinson said.

An exception to the lack of available land can be found in north

Costa Mesa. Sakioka Farms owns property near Sunflower Avenue and

Sakioka Drive, where about 1,400 dwelling units can be built, Costa

Mesa principal planner Kimberly Brandt said.

Other areas in Costa Mesa that Brandt listed as available for

residential construction include land on Harbor Boulevard near the

Fairview Developmental Center, a lot on 23rd Street and Orange Avenue

and the site of the former Daily Pilot offices on West Bay Street.

Costa Mesa developers at C.J. Segerstrom & Sons are down to a

single parcel of land where housing would be feasible, company

spokesman Paul Freeman said.

“I think the only one, it’s not properly zoned for it, but there

is the Mesa Verde parcel,” Freeman said. “We’re looking at a range of

possibilities, including housing.”

That piece of land was the site of the old Kona Lanes, which

closed in May 2003.

Newport Beach similarly is tight on land for new homes.

“We’ve been in a kind of built-out state for kind of a while now,”

senior planner Patrick Alford said. “There are a few parcels here and

there.”

The mixed-use Cannery Lofts project on the Balboa Peninsula is an

example of a completed infill project in Newport Beach, Alford said.

Plans for a separate infill proposal to tear down a Bayside Drive

apartment complex and replace the building with 17 single-family homes are still being reviewed.