Builders propose residential towers

Residential high-rises may become part of north Costa Mesa’s skyline,

but only if the city decides that building them will not add to

congestion on nearby streets.

Five residential towers have been proposed by developers. A sixth

proposal calls for an office building that could be transformed

completely or partially into condominiums.

In August, the Costa Mesa City Council voted to allow two

developers, Costa Mesa-based C.J. Segerstrom and Sons and

Chicago-based Fifield Companies, to submit detailed plans for

high-rises at a later date.

Two Los Angeles-based developers, Maguire Properties and McCarthy

Cook & Co., have each proposed a residential tower for north Costa

Mesa.

Before the towers can be approved, city staffers must complete an

environmental impact report that the developers will pay for, said

Kimberly Brandt, Costa Mesa’s principal planner. The environmental

study is not expected to be ready until next summer.

Traffic will be the overriding issue during the environmental

review process, Brandt said. For the city to approve any combination

of residential high-rises, the environmental study would have to show

that condos would not add cars to current traffic projections.

Beyond Newport-Mesa, Anaheim’s Platinum Triangle and the Jamboree

Corridor in Irvine are two places where developers are building

urban-style residences in Orange County.

Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce President Ed Fawcett believes there

is a demand for high-rise living and favors the idea of building

urban-style residences in north Costa Mesa.

“By putting them in here, it gives the high likelihood they

[residents] will be living, shopping and entertaining here without

the drive-through,” Fawcett said.

He believes Costa Mesa streets could become more congested if

residential towers are not built, since people seeking urban

lifestyles could move to nearby cities and drive to Costa Mesa

attractions.

Fifield, which has offices in Irvine, has proposed replacing the

Lakes Pavilions retail center with two luxury condo towers.

Tim O’Brien, Fifield’s West Coast operating partner, said each

building could be about 23 stories tall. The firm is preparing

detailed plans for the proposed project.

O’Brien said the scarcity of land means builders have to go

vertical.

“In Southern California we have no more land. We continue to push

out and push out, and people don’t want to push out anymore,” O’Brien

said.

Likely buyers for the proposed condominiums, O’Brien said, would

include older, affluent couples with large homes and sizable amounts

of equity.

“They’re simplifying their life, [but] they want all the luxury

they’re used to,” O’Brien said.

The news of Fifield’s plans came as a surprise to Avo Kilicarslan,

a restaurateur whose Avo’s Bistro is in business at Lakes Pavilion.

He said his landlord did not inform him about plans that could

lead to his restaurant being demolished.

“I was expecting to be in business for a long time. I was

investing a lot of time and effort and money,” Kilicarslan said. “All

of a sudden, it’s just unbelievable.”

O’Brien said Fifield is still in the process of buying the Lakes

Pavilions center. Kilicarslan’s landlords are Roger and Barbara

Allensworth of Anaheim. Barbara Allensworth declined to comment on

what may happen to Kilicarslan or other tenants at the center.

O’Brien said he did not expect major issues to develop surrounding

the termination of tenants’ leases.

* ANDREW EDWARDS covers business and the environment. He can be

reached at (714) 966-4624 or by e-mail at

o7andrew.edwards@latimes.comf7.