The future of Irvine’s Great Park could be shifting again as city council members are slated to consider greenlighting 1,300 new residential units in the park and swapping land with a developer to help build a new neighborhood.
The plan has been in the works since February, with city leaders looking to pick up a 3- acre parcel of land known as the Crescent site, which city leaders hope to use to connect the park with nearby train station and the Irvine Spectrum.
[Read: Irvine Looks to Connect Great Park With Public Transit Through Land Swap]
“The Crescent Site has unique value to the City because it connects the Great Park to the Irvine Train Station and Spectrum neighborhood, offering a natural anchor for transit-oriented development,” city staff wrote in their report to city council members.
Irvine City Council members are expected to publicly consider the land swap at the 5 p.m. today.
Under the deal points revealed last week in the staff report, Great Park developer FivePoint Holdings is set to receive over 26 acres of land in exchange for giving up the Crescent site.
That land will be used for up to 1,300 new housing units along with existing residential zones in the park for new townhomes, duplexes and condos.
City leaders are also dropping over 250 required units of affordable housing FivePoint was responsible for as part of the deal – roughly a quarter of all the planned affordable housing in the park under the previous agreement.
In exchange, city leaders get the Crescent site and a $15 million contribution for a long-discussed library at the Great Park, along with a study for a proposed columbarium.
Of the $15 million, $5 million is coming out of the special taxes paid by homeowners around the park, which go toward paying for new park projects and infrastructure like roads and power for homes.
[Read: The Great Park Tax: How Irvine Homeowners are Paying for the City’s Big Dreams]
While the final plans for the Crescent site remain unclear, the staff report notes the area is “particularly well suited for” a higher density residential neighborhood with mixed-use zoning, along with a walkable community and more retail.
City staff also note the Crescent site could be used to “drive a higher rate of affordable housing than the market can otherwise deliver.”
While residents around the park have heard promises for years about retail and other big projects like an amphitheater, most of the proposals have yet to become a reality.
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org.
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