Posted July 2026 | By Eric Engelbert | Updated as the project progresses.
KB Homes Enters Irvine's IBC: 108 Townhomes on the Former Von Karman Tech Center Site
KB Homes is one of the largest publicly traded homebuilders in the country, known for delivering for-sale homes in master-planned communities across California and the Southwest. Their emergence in Irvine's Irvine Business Complex as an applicant for an office-to-residential conversion is itself a signal about where the for-sale housing market is heading in the airport area. A national builder with KB Homes' scale and sales infrastructure does not file entitlements in a submarket unless it believes buyers will be there in meaningful numbers when the project delivers.
The project at 16842 Von Karman Avenue proposes 108 townhome-style residences on 4.61 acres that currently hold the Von Karman Tech Center, a 101,161-square-foot office building constructed in 1980. SB 330 was filed with the City of Irvine in September 2025, and the Tract Map, Park Plan, and Master Plan all followed in October 2025. The project is in Planning Area 36, the IBC designation that allows residential conversion of former office sites near John Wayne Airport.
The Site: Von Karman Tech Center, Built 1980, 4.61 Acres
The Von Karman Tech Center at 16842 Von Karman Avenue is a product of the first wave of Irvine Business Complex development. Built in 1980 and covering 101,161 square feet on a 4.61-acre parcel, it represents the type of single-tenant or multi-tenant suburban office building that defined the IBC for its first three decades. The building served the technology and professional services industries that located near John Wayne Airport during Southern California's aerospace and defense industry expansion of the 1980s and 1990s.
Von Karman Avenue runs north-south through the heart of Planning Area 36, named for Theodore von Karman, the Hungarian-American aeronautical engineer and co-founder of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The street address reflects the IBC's original identity as an employment district oriented toward aerospace, engineering, and related high-technology uses. The conversion of the Von Karman Tech Center from office to residential is part of a wholesale transformation of this corridor that has accelerated since the city adopted residential conversion standards for Planning Area 36.
At 4.61 acres, the Von Karman Tech Center site is large enough to support a meaningful residential project while remaining at a scale that does not require the phased delivery and complex infrastructure of the largest IBC conversions. Twenty-three units per acre is a density that works well for a townhome product type, allowing for individual garage access, private outdoor space, and a building scale that reads as residential neighborhood rather than dense urban infill.
108 Townhomes: What the Product Type Means for Buyers
The project description in city filings identifies the 108-unit development as a townhome project, which is a meaningful product distinction in the Irvine new construction market. Townhome-style residences typically feature two or more stories of living space, attached construction with neighbors above or below rather than side by side on every level, direct-access garage parking integrated into the unit footprint, and a private entry separate from a shared lobby or corridor. In Southern California new construction, townhomes occupy the middle ground between detached single-family homes and high-density stacked flats, offering more privacy and functionality than a traditional apartment or condo while remaining more attainable than a detached home on an individual lot.
KB Homes has built its national business around exactly this product category, particularly in markets like Orange County where land costs require density but buyers still expect private garages, dedicated outdoor space, and a sense of owning a home rather than living in a building. The firm's KB Connect program, which allows buyers to customize home options through an online design process, is also a differentiator from smaller local builders who deliver a fixed product. Detailed floor plan information and unit size ranges will become available as the project advances through the entitlement process and KB Homes releases marketing information.
For-sale structure
Multi-story layouts
Private garage access
16842 Von Karman Avenue
Planning Area 36 (IBC)
Irvine, CA 92612
101,161 SF office building
Built 1980
Office-to-residential conversion
National publicly traded
homebuilder
NYSE: KBH
| Project Address | 16842 Von Karman Avenue, Irvine, CA 92612 |
|---|---|
| Total Units | 108 townhome-style residences (for-sale) |
| Site Size | 4.61 acres |
| Prior Building | Von Karman Tech Center, 101,161 SF, built 1980 |
| Planning Area | PA 36 (Irvine Business Complex) |
| Developer | KB Homes |
| SB 330 Pre-Application | September 2025 |
| Tract Map Filed | October 2025 |
| Park Plan Filed | October 2025 |
| Master Plan Filed | October 2025 |
| City Planner | Brett Cannon |
| Project Status | Entitlements under review |
The Entitlement Sequence: SB 330, Tract Map, Master Plan, Park Plan
KB Homes filed the SB 330 preliminary application in September 2025, establishing the project's protected baseline under the Housing Crisis Act. The SB 330 filing locks in the applicable development standards and prevents the city from applying more restrictive regulations or fees during the review period, giving KB Homes the cost certainty that a national builder's pro forma requires before committing to a full entitlement campaign.
The October 2025 filings for the Tract Map, Park Plan, and Master Plan represent the next layer of the Irvine entitlement process. The Tract Map for a for-sale condominium or townhome project is typically filed as a Vesting Tentative Tract Map, which provides additional vested rights protections beyond a standard tentative map. The Master Plan establishes the land use designations, site layout, and development standards governing the 108-unit project on the 4.61-acre Von Karman Tech Center site. The Park Plan addresses Irvine's park dedication requirement, which applies to all residential projects and is calculated on a per-unit basis based on the number and size of homes proposed.
Planner Brett Cannon is the assigned city contact. From the October 2025 application filings, a standard Irvine entitlement timeline would put the project's Planning Commission hearing in the range of mid-2026 to early 2027, assuming the application proceeds without significant redesign requests or supplemental environmental review requirements. KB Homes' experience with the Irvine entitlement process, based on their prior work in Irvine and Orange County, means they understand the specific requirements of the city's subdivision committee, design review, and public hearing process.
KB Homes in the IBC: Why a National Builder Chose This Location
KB Homes' decision to bring a townhome project to Irvine's IBC rather than to a greenfield master-planned community reflects the changing geography of Orange County's new home market. The undeveloped acreage in Irvine's Portola Springs and Great Park Neighborhoods is largely committed to the Irvine Company and Five Point's development programs. The remaining opportunity for homebuilders to land for-sale communities in Irvine is through infill conversion, and Planning Area 36 is the designated corridor for that conversion.
A KB Homes community in the IBC also offers a commute profile that master-planned communities in Irvine's interior cannot match. Residents at 16842 Von Karman are minutes from John Wayne Airport, within easy reach of the employment corridors along MacArthur Boulevard, Jamboree Road, and the 405 Freeway. The UCI Health hospital campus on Jamboree Road is a growing employment anchor. The airport area's restaurant, hotel, and service commercial infrastructure, which already serves the business community, is immediately accessible to residents.
For buyers who have been priced out of detached single-family homes in Irvine but want more than a stacked apartment or high-rise condo, a 108-unit townhome community in a well-connected IBC location is a genuine opportunity. The community size is also relevant: 108 homes is small enough that residents know one another, the HOA governance is manageable, and the shared spaces feel proportional to the population using them. That is a meaningful quality-of-life advantage over communities that scale to hundreds or thousands of residents.
Interested in KB Homes in Irvine or Irvine Townhomes for Sale?
This project has not yet received Planning Commission approval and is not available for purchase. We follow all active KB Homes communities in Orange County and track the IBC entitlement pipeline closely. Contact us to be added to the update list for 16842 Von Karman, or to explore Irvine townhomes and condominiums currently available for sale.
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