Costa Mesa : Residential Section of Lakes Project Approved

A 770-unit condominium, the final phase of a massive project that includes hotels and stores, has been approved by the City Council.

The residential tract is part of the Lakes Project to be built east of Town Center. Condominiums are planned for 18.9 acres at the north end of the site, bordered by Sunflower Avenue, Avenue of the Arts and Sakioka Drive.

Because the builders received funds from the Orange County Bond Financing Program, 20% of the condominiums, or 154 units, must qualify as housing for low-income and moderate-income families, said assistant planner Kristen Caspers.

Also, although they were approved as condominiums, the units must be used as apartments for the first 10 years under the bond program, she said.

Floor plans range in size from 528-square-foot studios to 1,460-square-foot, two-bedroom apartments. Each will have an open balcony, Caspers said.

Plans are for nine four-story buildings with 1 1/2 floors of parking. Most of the 1,494 parking spaces are to be under ground.

In all, the Lakes Project calls for two hotels, a two-story restaurant, a 329-space, three-story parking garage and two single-story commercial buildings--each with restaurants.