Spirit of ’76 Pops Up Again at Westpark : Irvine Co. Reports Brisk Home Sales in Its New Community

Shades of 1976.

That’s what the Irvine Co. claims it has been experiencing in terms of sales at its first major new community in Irvine since the opening of Woodbridge, a landmark project in the housing industry.

The 800-acre Westpark opened with three neighborhoods, and three more are expected to open by summer.

The timing has been gauged by buyer demand.

Westpark Promenade by J. M. Peters Co. opened in early January with all 101 homes in the project’s first and second phases “reserved as fast as appointments could be made,” an Irvine spokesman said.

Strong Home Sales

The 23 homes released in the first phase of the Fieldstone Co.’s Westpark Vista in late January were sold, and the 23 homes in the project’s second phase were released Feb. 21, “again with strong sales.”

The third neighborhood--Standard-Pacific’s Westpark Sorrento--opened in late January with 49 homes that were quickly sold. A second phase of 25 homes is scheduled to be released Saturday.

John T. Martin, the Irvine Co.’s vice president of residential marketing, attributed the demand to Westpark’s Mediterranean design concept, a theme that will be carried throughout the community in a variety of ways, and to a desire of many people to live in a planned community “where they are buying not only a home but a life style as well.”

Westpark is in central Irvine, between the Irvine Co.’s Woodbridge and the Irvine Business Complex.

When completed over the next 10 years, Westpark will have about 4,500 homes, including apartments and a mix of other housing, besides the detached homes already sold. A-M Co. will open a neighborhood of patio homes in mid-March, followed by some Bren Co. town houses in late March and a William Lyon town-house project in May.

The housing is being designed to appeal to a variety of users. For instance, Westpark Vista is aimed at the young married-and-growing family market, while Westpark Sorrento focuses on growing and mature families, and Promenade homes were conceived to attract a wide range of buyers--”from executive couples to growing families and active seniors.”

Westpark will also have three public parks. Its landscaping plan--with parks, neighborhood recreation facilities, pedestrian and bicycle trails--was honored by the American Society of Landscape Architects.