BUSINESS WATCH:

For Steven and Quynh-Thi Vidal, moving into a new apartment feels more like moving into a small town.

The young couple are among the first residents planning to settle at the Enclave, the Irvine Co.’s new Costa Mesa apartment community and its first Orange County complex outside the Irvine Ranch. The Vidals work within a few blocks of their two-bedroom apartment, but with a park, a playground, a game room, an exercise room and a movie theater all within the Enclave’s gates, they seem to be in walking distance of just about everything else.

“This one just felt a little more like home, with all the amenities they have,” said Steven, who has a 1-year-old son and planned to sign his lease at the start of this week.

By the end of December, the Irvine Co. plans to finish construction on the Enclave’s 890 units — and, in the process, hopefully give a boost to the retail and entertainment venues in Costa Mesa’s most upscale neighborhood.

The sprawling 40-acre complex, tucked between Sunflower Avenue and Anton Boulevard, resides just minutes away from South Coast Plaza, the Orange County Performing Artscenter and South Coast Repertory.

The Irvine Co. operates about 90 apartment communities from San Diego to Silicon Valley, but until now, all its Orange County complexes have been confined to the Irvine Ranch — a parcel that covers Irvine, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Tustin, Anaheim and Orange. The company was looking to expand its countywide reach when a Costa Mesa landowner offered the Enclave property.

“We did make a shift in our strategy over the last few years to do projects off the ranch,” said Max Gardner, the president of the Irvine Co. Apartment Communities. “As part of that, we began looking at opportunities, and this was a project offered by the landowners to a number of different developers. The way we look at projects, we’re selective about sites, and this happened to be a site that had all the attributes we were looking for.”

So far, the crews have only finished construction on the apartments in front, but most of the amenities — which also include saltwater swimming pools, spas and several outdoor barbecue and dining areas — are ready to go.

Rents for the one- and two-bedroom units range from about $1,500 to $2,600. Irvine Co. spokesman Bill Rams said many of the 890 units still hadn’t been reserved, but interest was growing fast.

The complex’s in-house services, Gardner added, reflected the Irvine Co.’s tradition of arranging basic needs in a tight space.

“We don’t have the retail or the jobs there, but they’re in such close proximity that it’s similar in some regards to a planned community,” he said.

MICHAEL MILLER may be reached at (714) 966-4617 or at michael.miller@latimes.com.