Plan for 1,050-unit Hive Live in Costa Mesa grounded by deal with neighbor Anduril
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A plan to transform a Costa Mesa office complex into “Hive Live,” a 1,050-unit mixed-use development, has been navigating the city’s permitting process but won’t likely see the light of day, after the property was sold earlier this month.
San Francisco real estate investor Drawbridge Realty announced it had purchased the 14.59-acre Susan Street parcel, which contains three office buildings totaling 190,000 square feet, from owner Invesco Real Estate and immediately entered into a 15-year lease with neighboring Anduril Industries on Oct. 1.
“It is an outstanding property in a premier location, and our ability to secure a lease with a strong tenant aligns with our long-term investment strategy, making it a natural fit for our portfolio,” chief executive Charlie McEachron said in the release.
Dubbed the HIVE, the site was formerly used as creative office space and also served as the headquarters and training base for the Los Angeles Chargers.
In screening plans submitted to the city of Costa Mesa in 2023 by developer Legacy Partners, Hive Live proposed three five-story buildings with 1,756 parking spaces to accommodate tenants, 3,692 square feet of retail occupancy and roughly 7.7 acres of total open space.
The complex would have been situated due east of another property owned by Invesco where, in 2022, Anduril began its transition into a 640,000-square-foot headquarters formerly used as an Orange County bureau and printing press of the Los Angeles Times, called “The Press.”
Drawbridge spokesman Andrew Neilly, reached by email Monday, declined to comment on the purchase price or terms of the company’s agreement with Anduril, but a document reviewed by The Pilot places the value of the transaction at $77,928,000.
Replacing HIVE, an underused creative office park, and the Los Angeles Chargers’ former practice field, Hive Live planned to provide housing in Costa Mesa north of the 405 Freeway.
Neilly would not speak on whether the lease would allow Anduril to redevelop or reconfigure the parcel for employee housing or other purposes but did confirm that plans for Hive Live have been rendered moot.
“That process is no longer moving forward,” he wrote in an email. “We’re excited to be Anduril’s partner on this piece of real estate and we look forward to providing them with a world-class experience when they occupy the campus.”
An attempt to reach a spokesperson for Anduril was unsuccessful.
In recent meetings of the Costa Mesa City Council, a public hearing to consider the necessary entitlements for Hive Live has been repeatedly continued, with no discussion. When the matter was to be continued indefinitely during an Oct. 7 meeting, Mayor John Stephens offered a brief comment.
“This was a great and very promising project. [But] everybody has property rights, and we respect those property rights,” Stephens said. “It’s disappointing that we can’t go forward with a beautiful housing project, but I’m very pleased by Anduril. They’re an excellent employer, and we’re glad to have them in the community.”
