A while back I wrote about affordable housing in Irvine and the question came up: How will Irvine build affordable housing now that there will no longer be any redevelopment money? However, redevelopment funds are a relatively new invention in Irvine. The redevelopment district was built to aide with the development of the Orange County Great Park. Redevelopment money generated from this redevelopment district was to be used for the Great Park development. So this brings up two questions: Now that the $1.4 billion that Irvine had expected to receive from the redevelopment agency over the next 45 years will not be available, how will the Orange County Great Park be built? And since redevelopment money was not available for past affordable housing development, how was affordable housing in Irvine previously funded? Today I will focus on the effect that the lack of redevelopment funds will have on the build out of the Great Park.
Anyone who follows Irvine politics will not be surprised that a difference of opinion exists among city council members on what this means. Councilmember Lalloway has stated that without the redevelopment funds the current plans will need to be drastically scaled back. However, Mayor Pro Tem Krom stated on a recent AirTalk interview that she is not willing to lower the high standards that have been set for the Great Park development. “What we are not willing to do is lower the standards in how the project is developed.” And Krom was quoted in an Orange County Register article as stating that “We will continue to move the project forward by any means necessary. We have succeeded before, and we will succeed again.”
Councilmember Agran concurs with Krom. As quoted from a KCRW interview in another Orange County Register article, “We have faced obstacles before.” And Agran continues, “First, in defeating the proposed international airport; then in negotiating a deal with the U.S. Navy for the sale of the property and its redevelopment.”
Some of the ways that are proposed to continue the development of the Great Park at the same high standards as previously planned are:
- Build out will take 20 to 30 years instead of 15 to 20 years.
- More public-private partnerships will be pursued. For example, the Ducks are interested in building an ice rink at the Great Park.
- Negotiations with Fivepoint Communities Management Inc. will continue. Fivepoint wants to reduce the amount of commercial development and increase the number of homes that will be built to approximately 10,500 from 4,894. The thought is that in exchange for this concession additional money from Fivepoints is possible.
- Lease agreements, such as the RV storage leases, will continue to bring in funds. Currently the Great Park receives about $10 million from land leasing.
- Hosting events, such as Cirque du Soleil and the next Solar Decathlon, will bring in funds.
- Irvine owns the Great Park land. Although both Agran and Krom state that this is not something that is currently being pursued and will not necessarily be pursued in the future, selling small parcels of land to fund development is an option.
- Some planned features of the Great Park were contingent on Fivepoint putting in needed infrastructure. Due to the poor economy and Fivepoint therefore deciding to delay the installation of some of this infrastructure, Irvine’s development of some public features at the Great Park have been delayed. As Fivepoint, a private partner in the Great Park development, puts in this infrastructure, more possibilities for installation of public features will become available.
Last year the Great Park had approximately 600,000 visitors. Some of the attractions that these visitors made use of were the numerous events held at the park (such as the summer music and dance concerts), the weekly farmers market, a monthly green market, the free tethered balloon ride that gives a view of Orange County from about 400 feet, the free carousel ride, picnic and multiuse lawn areas, and the farm and food lab.
A few interesting tidbits about some of these attractions: First, the carousel was once a feature at Fashion Island. After being put in storage, the carousel was refurbished with a Great Park theme and transported to the Great Park. Next, Second Harvest is located at the Great Park. Food from the Great Park agricultural land is donated to Second Harvest. Second Harvest distributes food to various programs that provide food to those in need, including the Sunday Supper program, a program in which I am particularly interested. In addition, the Great Park owns some historic vintage aircraft including a N3N-3 Canary and SNJ-5. “The N3N-3 Canary is a 1942 World War II biplane used by the Navy and the Marine Corps to train pilots. The SNJ-5 is a 1944 World War II aircraft used to train fighter pilots for the Navy, Army Air Corps and the Royal Air Force.” These planes were obtained for display in the Museum of Heritage and Aviation.
The city council has recently allocated $22 million to build the next phase of the Great Park. Time will tell if the original expectations for the Great Park will be met, fall short, or be exceeded.
Sources:
“Great Park to fight on without $1.4 billion,” Brian Martinez
“State denies $1.4 billion for O.C. Great Park,” Brian Martinez ()
“Great Park Lands Two Vintage Aircraft,” PRNewswire
“Great Park Seeks to Bring Carousel Back to OC,” PRNewswire
Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy
Discuss below or on Talk Irvine
Only something like a World’s Fair or Olympic Games can possibly make this happen on the scale sold to the voters. It should be re-named “Agrans Ego”.
Thanks for the comment. Most who know of the Great Park seems to have very strong opinions on the Great Park development. I am curious what your opinion is on what should have been the plan (and implementation for the plan) for this land? Again, thanks for participating.
As a resident of Irvine, I would be willing to pay an additional $50 per year parcel tax on my property to provide stable funding to build out the park, coupled with the establishment of an endowment. It’s funny that some seem to love to fault-find with this project, as though the development of a huge, unnecessary, and polluting international airport would have ultimately been more preferable to anyone other than residents of Newport Beach; or any less of a boondoggle than they perceive the park to be. Their narrow-mindedness and limited vision seem to know no bounds.
Interesting thoughts about the parcel tax and endowment. Do you think that most of your fellow Irvine residents would be willing to agree with the parcel tax?
At the rate this country is experiencing UNEMPLOYMENT & HOMELESSNESS, I suggest you people prep the Great Park as a massive REFUGEE CAMP and rename it BUSHVILLE or OBAMAVILLE.
Enjoy.
I appreciate the time and effort that some have taken here to join in a constructive conversation. And I encourage everyone, no matter what their opinion is, to join in the conversation on this and any other topic that might be covered. But name calling, offensive language, and bring up violence just because someone has an opinion other than yours is not constructive. Instead of furthering a conversation, these kinds of comments just shuts down the conversation between those who have differing opinions. More dialogue, not less, is what is needed between these groups. So please, keep your comments coming. But keep them civil.
Why were there only two choices? Airport – which didn’t fly *ouch*, or a Park.
Do the People of Irvine like to visit Parks? Yes, a small percentage do, armed with a blue plastic bag in one hand and a Dog leash in the other, we have a lot of Parks in Irvine, I would say we have enough.
Would the People of Irvine prefer to visit London, Amsterdam or Paris? Yes they would!!
So recreate it.
Take Amsterdam for instance, dig some Canals, build some 4 story Apartments/Condo’s based on European designs along side them, so People could live there, build some European style Coffee shops, Cafe’s and Boutiques – a real European City center.
There would be endless possibilities.
Developers, investors, Renters, Loan Owners,Businesses and Visitors would be lining up.
As residents of Irvine, my family enjoys visiting the Great Park, especially the newer North Lawn. It is a great place to fly kites or have my kid tool around with our R/C cars.
Yes, we have many parks in Irvine. That is one of the more refreshing things about the city. We don’t need more apartments. We definitely don’t need an airport. And seeing how the I5 is, we don’t really need more people or businesses.
“Would the People of Irvine prefer to visit London, Amsterdam or Paris? Yes they would!!” Not necessarily. I love the relative peace and quiet of our city. If i wanted hustle and bustle, I’d move to LA, or SF, or NY.
What might be unique would be to realize Walt Disney’s original concept of a living city though.