Posted July 2026 | By Eric Engelbert | Updated as the project progresses.
107 Condominiums at 2152 Dupont Drive: How Starpointe Uses the Density Bonus to Deliver More Homes and Meet Affordability Requirements
In Irvine's Irvine Business Complex, Planning Area 36 has become the city's most active corridor for office-to-residential conversion. Most of those projects are large-scale apartment communities. The proposal at 2152 Dupont Drive is different in character: Starpointe Ventures has filed entitlement applications for 107 for-sale condominiums, a size that puts this project in a category of its own among the IBC pipeline. It is not a small project by any measure, but at 107 homes it occupies a human scale that the 400- and 800-unit apartment developments nearby simply cannot match.
The project uses California's Density Bonus Law to achieve its final unit count: 86 base units plus 21 density bonus units, with 11 of those units designated as on-site affordable housing in exchange for the bonus. The Master Plan, Park Plan, and Tract Map applications were all filed with the City of Irvine in November 2025. A preliminary application for traffic study purposes was filed earlier, in July 2025, at 108 units; the final filing refined the project to 107 units with the density bonus structure in place.
The Site: Dupont Plaza Office Building in Planning Area 36
The address 2152 Dupont Drive sits in the heart of Irvine's Planning Area 36, the zone encompassing the Irvine Business Complex between Jamboree Road, MacArthur Boulevard, and the 405 Freeway. This area was developed primarily in the 1980s as a major employment center, featuring mid-rise office buildings, light industrial uses, and commercial services that served the airport-adjacent business community for decades.
The specific building at 2152 Dupont Drive has been known as the Dupont Plaza office building, a product of the era when companies like Starpointe were building and managing suburban office parks throughout Southern California. The transition from office to residential at this address reflects a broader shift in what tenants want from their space, what investors believe the highest and best use is for IBC properties, and what Irvine's city leaders have approved through zoning that allows residential conversion in Planning Area 36.
Dupont Drive runs through one of the more established portions of the IBC, with a range of commercial and office properties nearby. The corridor connects to Jamboree Road on one end and to the internal street grid of the business complex on the other, providing straightforward access to the freeway system, John Wayne Airport, and the employment concentration along MacArthur Boulevard. For residents who work in the IBC or nearby Newport Beach employment centers, the commute effectively disappears.
The Numbers: 86 Base Units, 21 Density Bonus Units, 11 Affordable
The project structure at 2152 Dupont is a textbook application of California's Density Bonus Law. The baseline entitlement under Irvine's zoning for the site supports 86 residential units. By committing to include 11 units reserved for income-restricted affordable housing, the developer becomes eligible for a density bonus that allows additional market-rate units beyond what zoning would otherwise permit. The specific bonus calculation results in 21 additional units, bringing the total to 107.
The 11 on-site affordable units are part of the project, not a fee-in-lieu arrangement. That means buyers and residents of the affordable units live in the same community as the market-rate buyers, in the same buildings or immediate surroundings rather than in a separate income-restricted building on another block. What type of affordable designation applies, whether very low, low, or moderate income, determines the income limits for those 11 units. The Density Bonus Law provides the most favorable terms, including the maximum number of bonus units, when very low income units are included.
The Tract Map filed in November 2025 establishes the condominium subdivision structure that allows all 107 units, including the 11 affordable units, to be sold as individual for-sale condominiums. This is notable: Irvine's IBC residential pipeline is overwhelmingly rental apartments. A for-sale condominium project in this corridor, even one that includes affordable units, is a genuinely uncommon product type.
86 base + 21 density bonus
For-sale structure
Individual condominium title
Income-restricted
Part of density bonus
exchange
Full ownership title
HOA community
IBC location
Office-to-residential
conversion corridor
Airport area, Irvine 92612
| Project Address | 2152 Dupont Drive, Irvine, CA 92612 |
|---|---|
| Total Units | 107 condominiums (86 base + 21 density bonus) |
| Affordable Units | 11 on-site income-restricted units |
| Market-Rate Units | 96 units |
| Planning Area | PA 36 (Irvine Business Complex) |
| Developer | Starpointe Ventures |
| Entitlement Pathway | California Density Bonus Law + VTTM |
| SB 330 Pre-Application | July 30, 2025 (108 units, traffic study) |
| Master Plan Filed | November 10, 2025 |
| Park Plan Filed | November 10, 2025 |
| Tract Map Filed | November 19, 2025 |
| Project Status | Entitlements under review |
The Entitlement Path: Density Bonus, Master Plan, and Irvine's Subdivision Process
Starpointe's July 2025 preliminary application, filed for a traffic study associated with 108 units, was the first formal step in Irvine's entitlement sequence. SB 330 preliminary applications allow applicants to establish a vested baseline against which subsequent applications are reviewed, protecting the project from zoning changes or fee increases that might occur during the review period. The preliminary application also initiates the traffic study process, which is required before a Master Plan application can be deemed complete.
By November 2025, the project had been refined to 107 units and three formal applications were filed simultaneously: the Master Plan, the Park Plan, and the Tract Map. In Irvine, a Master Plan is the primary land use entitlement document for residential projects in planned communities. It establishes the site layout, permitted uses, development standards, building configurations, and phasing if applicable. The Park Plan addresses Irvine's parkland dedication requirement and typically involves either the dedication of land for public park use or payment of in-lieu fees calculated on a per-unit basis. The Tract Map, as a Vesting Tentative Tract Map, subdivides the property into individual condominium units that can be sold separately.
California's Density Bonus Law, once invoked by a developer who commits to an affordable housing set-aside, places specific constraints on the city's ability to deny the density bonus units. The city cannot reduce or deny the 21 bonus units as long as the project meets the applicable findings. This provides Starpointe with a measure of entitlement certainty that purely discretionary projects do not have. The project still goes through the full Planning Commission process, but the density bonus component is a statutory right rather than a discretionary grant.
Starpointe Ventures and the Case for 107 Homes in the IBC
Starpointe Ventures is an Irvine-based real estate developer with a history in the Southern California office market, including prior work along the Dupont Drive corridor itself. Their pivot toward residential development at 2152 Dupont reflects the same calculus that dozens of IBC property owners have reached in recent years: vacancy rates for suburban office product in the airport area have climbed as tenants have downsized, consolidated, or shifted to higher-quality buildings, while residential demand in well-located Irvine addresses with good freeway access remains strong.
What makes this project stand out in the IBC pipeline is the condominium structure combined with the relatively moderate size. Most of the residential projects moving through Irvine's entitlement process in Planning Area 36 are rental apartments operated by institutional landlords. A for-sale community of 107 homes offers a different value proposition: long-term equity in a well-located Irvine address, a manageable HOA size, and the quality-of-life characteristics that come from living in a community where your neighbors are also owners rather than transient renters.
For buyers looking at new construction options in Irvine, 107 units represents a community size where amenities are sized for the actual resident count, where HOA meetings are legitimate governance rather than bureaucracy, and where the common areas and shared spaces feel like they belong to the residents rather than to a property management company. That is a genuine advantage in a new construction landscape where the alternative is often choosing between tiny infill and enormous apartment complexes with no middle ground.
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The 2152 Dupont project is in active entitlement and has not yet been approved or brought to market. We track all new development in Irvine's IBC corridor and can notify you when projects like this reach key milestones. If you are looking for condominiums for sale in Irvine now, we can help you find the best current inventory.
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