Earlier this month, the City of Irvine made a surprise move to redirect an imminent 540,000-square-foot warehouse development in the Irvine Business Complex to residential instead.
The owner of the Von Karman Corporate Center at Alton Parkway and Von Karman Avenue had proposed and gotten Planning Commission approval to build the new warehouse development there. It was appealed and in January went before the City Council, where it was opposed by nearby residents and others.
Mayor Larry Agran noted the project would be about the size of four Costco stores and said it would not be compatible with the adjacent residential areas. The Council scheduled further consideration for the February 11th meeting.
At the February 11th Council meeting, City Manager Oliver Chi reported that the City staff had negotiated a deal with the developer to shelve the warehouse plan and instead begin obtaining permits for a residential development on the site. Under the deal, Chi said, if the developer does not get a residential project before the Planning Commission by September 24th, then the City would have the option to purchase the land and build a residential project there itself.
“This is great news for the residents,” said neighbor Mario Albuquerque, who had opposed the warehouse project. Albuquerque asked how the City would get the money to buy the land if it came to that.
Chi said he believes the residential project can be done by the developer within the time limit. “We have been exceedingly impressed with applicant’s breadth and depth of knowledge of the real estate market,” Chi commented. “We absolutely believe they can pull this project off.”
If, however, the City does end up exercising the option, Chi said, the City has “built up a large cash-balance position. We also have the ability to tap financing through various means.” Chi compared it to the City’s acquisition of the All American Asphalt plant site in 2023, in which a residential development on part of the site is paying for the City’s acquisition of the property and the development of the 700-acre Gateway Preserve there.
The Council approved the option agreement on a 5-0 vote.
Meanwhile, a proposal to give the City more latitude in its review of warehouse projects was passed on a 6-0 vote by the Planning Commission on February 20th and will return to the Council in March. It would allow the City to consider a project’s compatibility with neighboring uses and place conditions on the development, such as limiting the facility’s hours of operation or the amount of noise or truck traffic it generates.
Originally considered by the previous Council in 2023 and rejected on a 2-3 vote, the proposal is being brought back by Mayor Agran and Councilmember Kathleen Treseder — the two “yes” votes back in 2023 — in hopes that the newly elected and expanded Council will have a majority to support it. Agran made the warehouse regulations an issue in his mayoral campaign against former Councilmember Tammy Kim, who voted against Agran’s original proposal for placing restrictions on warehouse development.
“I think we’re going to have to take a real deep dive on this issue if we’re going to keep faith with our reputation as a well planned city,” said Mayor Agran.
In a preliminary vote, the Council voted 4-2 to have the staff update the 2023 proposal and bring it back to the Council. Treseder, Agran, and newly-elected Councilmembers Melinda Liu and William Go voted YES; Vice Mayor James Mai and Councilmember Mike Carroll voted NO.
