Rooms With Views for a Million-Plus : Housing: Construction has begun on the rolling hills of the Newport Coast, the county’s premier stretch of undeveloped coast.
Many a traveler along Pacific Coast Highway has eyed the rolling open spaces between Newport Beach and Laguna Beach and wished for a home in those hills overlooking the ocean.
Well, now dreams can come true--for a price.
The first homes to be built in the Irvine Co.’s long-awaited Newport Coast development will go on sale in January, at prices ranging from $1.4 million to $2.2 million.
And let there be no misunderstanding: These aren’t even custom-built mansions--the vacant lot prices for those homes run $900,000 to $3 million each.
No, these 58 residences in the 9,000-acre development are luxury production homes--what the more pedestrian among us call tract houses--that buyers can customize from a palate of offerings that range from double dishwashers to an extra room.
The builder, Bramalea of California, is aiming at that narrow band of the marketplace that doesn’t blink when the down payment alone is more than many people pay for an entire house.
There will be other, less expensive housing, however, in the Irvine Co.’s premier coastal project.
Ultimately, up to 2,600 homes and apartments may be built in the Newport Coast development, where plans call for three resort hotels and 7,200 acres of permanent open space that includes two 18-hole golf courses.
And while only one other builder, Newport Beach-based Recre-Action Group of Cos., has a signed deal--for homes that are likely to start in the low $700,000s--an Irvine Co. spokeswoman said the Newport Coast master plan contemplates a range that includes homes priced as low as $300,000.
But the Bramalea homes are the first and will be the largest production homes on the largest lots on the highest points of land in the Newport Coast, says Jack Reimer, Bramalea’s vice president of land development.
The smallest of the four models, for example, is 4,918 square feet, plus a three-car garage. The smallest of the lots is just over a quarter of an acre. As befits their price tags, the homes abound in detail: libraries, 35-foot ceilings in some of the living rooms, a music room in one model, 15 coats of marine enamel on kitchen cabinets, master suites as big as many small houses, maids’ rooms, lots of marble and tile and va-a-a-ast expanses of windows to take advantage of ocean, canyon and city views.
The extensive grading needed to give most homes a to-kill-for view, and the extensive landscaping of the common areas in the 48-acre project added an average of $200,000 to the price of each lot, said Reimer. “And the Irvine Co. didn’t give these lots away,” he said.
While the cost of the finished lot is about 28% of the price of the typical single-family residential development in Orange County, Reimer said lot costs in this Bramalea project average about 35% of the price.
This is not the kind of project that draws long lines and pre-sale camp-outs, but Bramalea already has more than 175 names on a list of interested people. Two prospective buyers already have plunked down hefty deposits, said Dave Lopez, sales director for the Irvine-based builder, and 13 others have toured the still-unfinished models to see what they might get for the money.
The Irvine Co. generally prohibits advance sales in projects on its land. Those who have seen the Bramalea project so far are among 15 close friends and business associates of Bramalea officials. They were permitted an early look under an agreement with the Irvine Co., said Peter B. Perrin, president Bramalea of California.
Most of the Italian-Mediterranean style homes, designed by Costa Mesa architects McLarand Vasquez & Partners will be available on a first-come, first-served basis when the models open in January, said Perrin.
And while Bramalea isn’t anticipating a mob scene, the company does expect strong and steady sales, despite the current recession.
“We did our original research in Newport Beach,” said Perrin, “and we found that there is strength in the high end of the market. And everything we saw in that research has held true in the recession, so we see no problem selling 15 to 20 homes a year in Newport Beach on the last stretch of coastal land in Orange County.”
In the last two years, according to Dataquick Information Services in San Diego, sales of homes priced at $1 million or more have held remarkably steady in Orange County at an average of 19 a month.
Since June, Standard Pacific Ltd., the Costa Mesa builder of mid-range and luxury homes, has sold 26 homes in its Turtle Rock Summit Estates development in Irvine, including seven in August. Prices generally ranged from $1 million to $1.5 million.
“The high end is a very steady market,” said Perrin. “I feel as comfortable building $1.5-million and $2-million homes in Newport Beach as I would building $90,000 and $100,000 homes. It is the in-between market that is sluggish. The highs and the lows are pretty consistent.”
Lopez said he expects the project to take about 3 1/2 years to sell out.
“There is usually a burst of interest and sales when something like this opens,” he said, “so we anticipate selling about 20 homes the first year and then about 15 a year until they are all sold.”
He said the initial marketing thrust will be local, radiating out from Newport Beach south to San Diego and north to Santa Barbara.
After that, “we’ll go national and probably even international,” he said.
Bramalea of California’s parent, Bramalea Ltd., is a major Canadian residential builder that has a long history of high-priced luxury projects in and around Toronto.
Lopez said one potential buyer in the Newport Coast project is a Quebec insurance industry consultant who is considering Newport Coast for a summer residence.
