Costa Mesa : Shops Area Undergoing a Massive Face Lift

A portion of the 1800 block of Newport Boulevard in Costa Mesa is undergoing a massive face lift that is transforming the shopping area from what a city official described as “early California strip” to something reminiscent of the days of Spanish missions and conquistadores.

Pat David, community development coordinator with the Costa Mesa Redevelopment Agency, said the $722,000 project won’t be completed until year’s end.

The average cost of redesigning a building front is about $30,000 and includes refurbishing the backs of the buildings and resurfacing the parking lots.

Although most of the project is funded through federal community development block grants, property owners are also contributing to the project while receiving low-interest loans from the city.

In exchange for the loans, property owners are asked to sign agreements with the city requiring them to maintain the buildings to Costa Mesa’s satisfaction, David said.

Work on the project has been under way since late July and is expected to continue through mid-December. In all, 22 buildings are undergoing renovation. Built in the late 1940s and early 1950s, the structures will shed their boxy, unattractive fronts and take on a Spanish-Colonial motif, David said.

One group of property owners won’t be participating in the renovation project. Diana Johnson, one of the owners of the building at 1822 1/2 to 1826 Newport Blvd., said she and her partners refused to join in because “it just wasn’t equitable.”

Because city officials reserve the right to place liens on property in order to ensure that the renovated buildings are maintained properly, Johnson said she and her partners “could put the same money in ourselves and upgrade our own property” without the risk of foreclosure.