Mission Viejo : Vote on Crown Valley Office Plans Delayed

A proposed seven-story office complex on Crown Valley Parkway--which five years ago was part of a grand scheme to create a civic center for South County--will be delayed at least another six months.

The Planning Commission agreed last week to delay a hearing on the project until April because the Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center--a partner in the development--was recently sold to another hospital, St. Joseph Hospital of Orange.

A spokesman from another partner in the development, Bentall Property Management, told commissioners that St. Joseph Hospital needed time to evaluate the project, especially with a continuing soft market for office space.

Situated on five acres at Crown Valley Parkway and Medical Center Drive, the proposed office complex would boast 175,000 square feet with another 183,000 square feet of parking.

The Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center won approval from the city for the development in 1990, just as demand for office space began spiraling downward.

Called Crown Pointe, the office structure was once seen as a crown jewel in plans to create a massive shopping, civic center and business corridor on Crown Valley Parkway. City leaders had envisioned the area becoming the mythical center of South County.

But city voters overwhelmingly turned down civic center plans, the bottom dropped out of the office market and a sluggish economy delayed a second shopping mall off Crown Valley Parkway.

After their original permit expired last year, the project partners came back to the city last year with the original plans for a seven-story office building.