Irvine Co. has City Hall demands

As one of Newport Beach’s biggest commercial entities, the Irvine Co. has long had a heavy hand in steering the city’s development. Now the company could have a major role in determining where City Hall is built.

The Irvine Co. would have some amount of say over three of the four locations now under discussion. The only one entirely under the city’s control is the existing City Hall.

The latest suggestion for a City Hall spot is Irvine Co.-owned land in the 500 block of Newport Center Drive. The company has offered a 99-year lease for a parcel there, and the City Council agreed last week to discuss it.

The council’s other top choice is a parcel on Avocado Avenue where an Orange County Transportation Authority park-and-ride station now stands. To build there, the city would have to move the bus center onto a nearby parcel owned by the Irvine Co.

And the third option, which could be put to a public vote if proponents get enough signatures, is a city-owned parcel next to the Newport Beach Central Library — which was dedicated as a park in a 1992 agreement with the Irvine Co. To build a City Hall there, the city would have to alter the agreement so the Irvine Co. would be a party to any changes, Newport Beach Assistant City Manager Sharon Wood said.

When the city comes to the table seeking cooperation on a City Hall site, the Irvine Co. will be there with its own demands. Wood said the Irvine Co. is interested in building 430 residential units, about 75,000 square feet of retail space and an undetermined number of hotel rooms in Newport Center. Irvine Co. spokesman John Christensen wouldn’t discuss details of negotiations with the city, but he said city officials have approached the company several times about a City Hall site.

“We’re trying to be responsive to them,” he said. “We’ve worked on an option that can be considered in addition to the other two options.”

The fact that the city wants something gives the Irvine Co. “a certain amount of leverage in any negotiation,” Newport Beach Mayor Steve Rosansky said. “Any time you want something from the other party, that’s helpful to them.”

But it can work both ways, he added — the city’s leverage is its control over residential and other entitlements.

In practical terms, the Irvine Co.’s involvement means discussions about where to put City Hall and how much the land would cost will take place behind closed doors.

At the other end of the spectrum of issues in the City Hall discussion is the possibility of a public vote on three of the four locations. Measure S, also known as Greenlight, requires a vote when a proposed new land use will create at least 100 vehicle trips at peak hours, and Wood said a City Hall anywhere but at the existing site is likely to cross that threshold.

City officials have not determined that any of the sites would need voter approval.

ALICIA ROBINSON may be reached at (714) 966-4626 or at alicia.robinson@latimes.com.