Newport seeks public’s feedback on 260-unit condo plan at meeting Wednesday
Newport Beach city officials are asking for the public’s input Wednesday about the potential environmental effects of a proposed 260-unit condominium development near John Wayne Airport.
The project, dubbed Koll Center Residences, is planned for 4400 Von Karman Ave., in the Koll Center Newport office park. It would include three 13-story residential towers bordered by Birch Street to the northeast and Von Karman Avenue to the west.
Two of the towers would have 87 condos each. The third would have 86. The units, ranging from 1,240 to 3,160 square feet, would have one to three bedrooms.
The project also would contain a 1-acre park, a 490-space parking structure and 3,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floors of the towers.
The developer is a division of Irvine-based Shopoff Realty Investments, which also worked on the nearby Uptown Newport Village project off Jamboree Road.
Uptown Newport Village could contain as many as 1,244 residential units.
Koll Center Residences would not replace the office complexes in Koll Center Newport along Von Karman and Birch. Rather, city officials say, the condo towers would be placed on the center’s flat parking lots and landscaping areas next to the complexes.
The parking spaces lost to the towers would be compensated by the new parking structure, according to city documents. Each of the towers also would have its own underground parking area, and there would be additional spaces outside for the retail centers and the park.
The property at 4400 Von Karman has a general plan designation of mixed-use horizontal, which aims to incorporate both residential and commercial uses in high-rise buildings. Koll Center Residences would be an addition to Newport’s planned Koll Center community, which was first approved in 1972.
Koll Center Residences requires several approvals before it can be finalized. In addition to the completion of an environmental impact report — a draft of which could be available this spring — it will be reviewed by the Planning Commission and City Council this summer, as well as the Orange County Airport Land Use Commission and the Federal Aviation Administration due to its proximity to John Wayne Airport.
Wednesday’s meeting will begin at 6 p.m. at the Friends Room of the Central Library, 1000 Avocado Ave.
Email comments will be accepted until Feb. 2 by associate planner Rosalinh Ung at rung@newportbeachca.gov.
Twitter: @BradleyZint
