Developer Looked to Old Europe for Ideas on Building Housing
One of the more unusual residential projects in Orange County is rising out of the ersatz Mediterranean plains of Irvine’s Westpark community.
Borrowing from building techniques used hundreds of years ago to create privacy in crowded European cities, Newport Beach-based RCG--for RecreAction Group of Companies--is building what it calls the country’s first “Euro-Villa.”
The density--22 units per acre--is higher than allowed for some apartment complexes, but RCG’s Corte Bella is an owner-occupied townhouse development.
What makes it work is the unusual layout and the lavish use of architectural detail that gives the individual buildings a high degree of eye appeal.
The density, says E. James Murar, chairman of the award-winning RCG, is what is needed in Orange County today to help bring down the cost of housing. The company won the development rights when it defeated four other builders in a design and pricing competition sponsored by the Irvine Co., which was looking for an innovative high-density project.
Corte Bella units aren’t cheap: The base price for the smallest, a 1,300-square-foot, one-bedroom is $175,000; and the three-bedroom, 2,200-square-foot model starts at $280,000. But for an Irvine townhouse project, the prices certainly qualify as affordable.
When completed, the project will have 20 individual buildings, each containing 10 to 16 units surrounding a central “motor court” plaza. Garages are entered from the courtyard level, and the units rise three stories above.
Murar said RCG’s design team traveled to Italy before setting drafting pen to paper. The result is a modernized version of an Italian palazzo.
Each building is a courtyard-oriented mini-neighborhood, and the views out of most windows are of fountains, decorative stonework and architecturally detailed building facades.
