Local News in Brief : Costa Mesa : College District Blocked From Developer Deal
A move by the Coast Community College District to raise money by leasing some campus open space to a private developer was blocked Monday by the City Council.
The property--18 acres on the Orange Coast College campus along Adams Avenue between Pinecreek Drive and Fairview Road--was rezoned to deny commercial development in a 5-0 City Council vote after the college withdrew its request.
“We don’t want to push something at the community that it is not willing to accept,” district Chancellor David A. Brownell said after the withdrawal and vote.
The council’s vote designated the land for public use only, such as the site for hospitals, schools, parks or cemeteries.
Earlier this year, Nelson Zand, a Newport Beach developer who has built many apartment complexes in Costa Mesa, including the 714-unit Villa Martinique that abuts the OCC site, proposed putting 480 apartments on the campus parcel. Under the proposal, the district would have leased the land to Zand for 66 years, after which the apartments would become district property.
Under the proposal, the district stood to net about $5 million over the first 10 years, according to its own calculations.
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