Seven hundred and sixty-six new residential units are set to be added to the Great Park Neighborhoods in Irvine within the next several years — despite complaints from many residents who say they aren’t welcome.
Plans are well underway for two residential developments at the Great Park Neighborhoods, which include 684 new condominiums near Great Park Ice spread across approximately 61 acres and 82 units in Cadence Park across 15 acres.
Construction has not started for the homes near Great Park Ice, according to city spokesperson Kristina Perrigoue. For the project in Cadence Park, rough grading of the site, cleaning up and smoothing out the surface, is underway but construction of the residential units has not yet begun, she said.
Completion of the new units and a new retail center at the southern portion of the Great Park Neighborhoods would, in an ideal world, be very close, said FivePoint spokesperson Kory Lynch. Construction on the retail center is scheduled to wrap up in the first quarter of 2026 and be up and running that summer, said city manager Oliver Chi.
The retail center is expected to be completed before these 766 new homes are occupied, said Chi.
Development of the 82 new homes at Cadence Park was jeopardized after a resident challenged it over a lack of shopping facilities nearby and concerns of overcrowding. The City Council, however, said the coming retail center will alleviate the need for shopping options, giving the project a final stamp of approval this week.
Filing the appeal on the project was Phillip Pham, a Great Park Neighborhoods resident who lives within 500 feet of the project site. Pham — who grew up in Irvine, moved to New York in 2008 and came back to the city in 2019 — said the proposed site is “ideally positioned for a shopping center.”
“Around the Central Park area, there were lots and lots of food, whereas in the Great Park, there are not many options,” Pham said. “The closest proximity for food…
Read the full article here