The Irvine Planning Commission recently approved three separate projects that will create 766 new homes and bring a 77,000-square-foot retail center to the Great Park Neighborhoods.

Construction is expected to begin later this year but residents have already challenged aspects of development. 

On Thursday, Nov. 2, the Planning Commission unanimously approved a 15-acre, 82-unit, single-family residential project at Cadence Park, with home builder Toll Brothers as the applicant.  

Plans for the project will utilize the ARDA site, which is located inside District 4. The project’s location is expected to be bounded by Irvine Boulevard to the west, Cultivate to the south, and north of Pusan.

However, despite the project’s unanimous approval from the commission, several residents opposed the project, claiming that the area was already overcrowded.  

Great Park resident Phillip Pham filed an appeal against the project. In his appeal, filed a day after the commission approved the Great Park retail center, on November 17, Pham urged the Irvine City Council to reverse the Planning Commission’s vote. 

In his arguments, Pham said that the 82-unit residential project would be inconsistent with the neighborhood design, and would significantly degrade the quality of life within Irvine. 

Later, on Tuesday, Dec. 12, after a public hearing, the Irvine City Council denied Pham’s appeal in a 4-0 vote, confirming the commission’s decision. 

In response to complaints of overcrowding from residents during the commission’s first meeting in November, Planning Commissioner Branda Lin asked if the commission could make alterations to the Cadence Park project. 

“We did receive a lot of public comments stating, ‘we can’t handle any more homes in the Great Park Neighborhoods – were impacted already’,” Lin said. “In terms of what’s to come, is there anything we on the planning commission can do? Can we, for instance — let’s say we wanted mixed-use versus single-family homes, could we deny this application based on that?” 

Eric Tolles, Assistant City Manager for the Great Park, explained that the planning commission had no control over the proposed development. Adding that the land is part of a development agreement between Irvine and Five Point that was established in 2011. 

At the crux of the development agreement, Irvine received the land for the Great Park, and in return, the city would allow Five Point to build a maximum of 10,556 residential units within the city’s master plan. 

“A key fundamental benefit to the city, from the original development agreement is the Great Park. That, over 1,000 acres of land, that came to the city,” Tolles explained. “The Navy originally sold that land to Heritage Fields, and the city had no ownership of the land.”

The commission continued a busy November by approving a proposed 77,000-square-foot retail development within the Great Park. 

On Thursday, Nov. 16, at the request of developer FivePoint, the commission unanimously approved two conditional-use permits for a pair of drive-thru restaurants, along with an 11-acre master plan concept for a retail center.

The project is slated to be located in District 1, south of Great Park Boulevard, east of Beacon, and to the north and west of the Great Park, according to a staff report.

The staff report also indicated that since 2013, both the City of Irvine and FivePoint have received feedback from Great Park residents who have complained about the lack of retail and grocery options near their homes.   

While the project is still pending council approval, conceptual plans for retail development include two different plans for an eight-building design. The conceptual design of the Great Park retail project was created by development and investment firm Almquist and includes space for restaurants, a grocery or liquor store, and space for a brewery or taproom. 

Dan Almquist, Founding Principal and Chief Executive Officer of Almquist, explained that he understood the frustrations of residents over the lack of retail in the area. He also added that the project was currently being accelerated and anticipated beginning construction in Late 2024.    

“I’ve never gone this fast on a project. Right now, our target is early fall of next year to break ground on this,” he said. I think this project will take between 15 and 18 months to build. So that would put us in the first quarter of 2026.” 

The 82-unit Cadence Park project will not be the only project on FivePoint’s radar in 2024.  

Most recently, on Thursday, Dec. 7, the commission unanimously approved a 61-acre project that will give the green light to FivePoint for the construction of 684 attached and detached condominium units. 

A staff report indicated that the project would be situated on undeveloped land west of Bosque, south of Carmine, north of Hornet, and east of Ridge Valley.

While the Irvine City Council will need to weigh in on final approval for the trifecta of projects centered around the Great Park, Irvine City Manager Oliver Chi said he expects the retail project to be completed before the Cadence Park units are occupied.  

“The retail project is currently scheduled to be under construction mid-part of 2024,” he said. “Likely, the retail center would be constructed and open before all of the 82 units are sold and moved in, but the timelines are roughly similar.”

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