Posted July 2026 | By Eric Engelbert | Updated as the project moves forward.
800 Homes on 92 Acres of Coastal Oil Land: The CRC Huntington Beach Project Explained
One of the most significant pieces of undeveloped coastal land in Orange County has been an active oil field for the past 100 years. That is about to change. California Resources Corporation (CRC), the energy company that owns 92 acres along Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach, submitted an application in March 2025 to rezone the property and redevelop it into up to 800 homes, a resort hotel, restaurants, retail, and 23 acres of public open space and parks.
The site runs 1.2 miles along PCH between Goldenwest Street and Seapoint Street, just south of the Bolsa Chica wetlands. It is one of the last large undeveloped coastal parcels anywhere in Southern California. The proposal is not a done deal by any stretch. It requires amendments to the city's General Plan, its zoning code, and its Local Coastal Program, followed by review from the California Coastal Commission. Environmental cleanup of a century's worth of oil production comes before a single home can be built. And the project sits at the center of Huntington Beach's ongoing battle with the state over housing mandates, a fight the city has been losing in court.
This is an early-stage proposal, not a project you can buy into today. But given the scale, the location, and the number of hurdles ahead, it is worth understanding what is being proposed, what is standing in the way, and how long this realistically takes. This page will be updated as the project moves through the approval process.
The Site: 1.2 Miles of Beachfront Oil Field
The CRC property sits at 20101 Goldenwest Street in Huntington Beach. It is a flat, rectangular strip of land occupying 92 acres along the inland side of Pacific Coast Highway, stretching from Goldenwest Street north to Seapoint Street. A small additional 3-acre segment sits on the north side of Seapoint. The property fronts PCH for 1.2 miles and is directly across the highway from the city's beach.
On the north end, the property borders the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, a 1,400-plus acre wetland and upland preserve that is one of the most ecologically significant coastal wetland systems in Southern California. That adjacency is central to the environmental debate around this project. The wetlands have been the subject of decades of development battles, most famously in the 1970s through 1990s when Amigos de Bolsa Chica, a volunteer conservation group, fought to stop large-scale residential development on the Bolsa Chica mesa and lowlands. They succeeded in preserving the ecological reserve as it exists today. Their attention will be on this project too.
To the south and nearby, the AES Huntington Beach power plant and the Orange County Sanitation District's treatment facility are within roughly a mile of the site. The California Environmental Quality Act screening tool CalEnviroScreen gives the surrounding area elevated scores for solid waste facilities and toxic releases compared to the rest of the state. That industrial context shapes the environmental review the project will need to clear.
Oil production at the site began around 1920. The Huntington Beach oil field is one of the oldest producing oil fields in California. After more than 100 years of continuous operation, the property has dozens of active oil and gas wells, pipelines, processing equipment, and storage infrastructure that must all be phased out and remediated before any residential development can occur. CRC's own soil testing, conducted as part of the redevelopment planning process, has already confirmed the presence of hydrocarbons and certain metals in the soil, which the company describes as typical of oilfield sites.
The western portion of the Palm/Goldenwest Specific Plan area, a 54-acre segment previously owned by PLC, was already converted to residential use and is now the Boardwalk community. The CRC property is the remaining 92-acre half of that same specific plan area, which has been sitting in oil production while its neighbor was built out. That prior conversion establishes a precedent for residential development under the specific plan, though CRC still needs to amend the plan to permit housing on its portion of the site.
What Is Being Proposed: Units, Hotel, and Parks
CRC is proposing to divide the 92-acre site into three planning areas. The largest, at 53.2 acres, would be designated for medium-density residential use at 15 dwelling units per acre, allowing up to 800 homes. The residential zone would consist of single-family homes, townhomes, and condominiums. No high-density apartment buildings are proposed. Sixteen acres in the center of the property would be reserved for commercial visitor uses, permitting up to 350 hotel rooms along with retail, restaurants, and other visitor-serving businesses. The remaining 22.8 acres would be preserved as public open space and parks.
The open space plan includes a linear park running the full 1.2-mile length of the property along PCH and an inland greenbelt that connects to form a 2.5-mile multi-use trail around the project perimeter. CRC is framing this as a major public amenity and a reason the project is better for the community than what the current zoning allows.
| Address | 20101 Goldenwest Street, Huntington Beach, CA 92648 |
|---|---|
| Site Area | 92 acres (plus 3-acre segment north of Seapoint) |
| PCH Frontage | 1.2 miles (Goldenwest Street to Seapoint Street) |
| Proposed Homes | Up to 800 (single-family, townhomes, condominiums) |
| Residential Density | Medium density, 15 du/acre on 53.2 acres |
| Hotel / Commercial | Up to 350 hotel rooms on 16 acres; retail and dining permitted |
| Open Space / Parks | 22.8 acres; 1.2-mile linear park along PCH; 2.5-mile multi-use trail |
| Affordable Housing | 10% of total units per Huntington Beach policy |
| Current Zoning | Commercial Visitor under Palm/Goldenwest Specific Plan (2000) |
| Entitlements Required | General Plan Amendment, Palm/Goldenwest Specific Plan Amendment, Local Coastal Program Amendment |
| Developer / Owner | California Resources Corporation (CRC), Long Beach, CA |
| Application Submitted | March 2025 |
| EIR Scoping Meeting | February 18, 2026 |
| City Council Consideration | Anticipated mid-2026 |
| Coastal Commission Review | After City Council approval |
On the traffic question, CRC makes an argument that will matter during environmental review. The current Palm/Goldenwest Specific Plan caps development intensity by allowing up to 21,909 average daily vehicle trips from the site. The proposed 800 homes combined with the scaled-back commercial component are projected to generate fewer than 9,000 ADT, roughly 60 percent less traffic than the current zoning allows. Commercial floor area is also being reduced from a potential maximum of around 1.7 million square feet under the existing zoning to approximately 348,480 square feet. CRC is framing this as a downzone, not an upzone, in terms of overall impact.
The Approval Gauntlet: Why This Will Take Years
This project faces one of the most complex approval paths of any residential development in Orange County. Unlike a typical infill project that needs a planning commission sign-off and a city council vote, CRC needs to clear multiple independent regulatory bodies, each with its own review timeline, political dynamics, and legal standards. Here is what stands between the application and a shovel in the ground.
- 1. Environmental Impact Report (EIR) The City of Huntington Beach is preparing a full EIR for the project under CEQA. CRC published a Notice of Preparation in February 2026 and held a public scoping meeting on February 18, 2026. The EIR will need to address soil contamination, proximity to the Bolsa Chica wetlands, traffic, noise, air quality, and the phasing out of active oil wells. Draft EIRs for projects of this complexity typically take 18 to 24 months to complete, followed by a public comment period and a final response document.
- 2. Huntington Beach Planning Commission The commission must review the proposed amendments to the General Plan and the Palm/Goldenwest Specific Plan and make a recommendation to the City Council. Public hearings will be held. Given HB's contentious political environment and the sensitivity of coastal land use, commission meetings on this project will likely draw significant public testimony.
- 3. Huntington Beach City Council The City Council has final say on the General Plan amendment and the Specific Plan amendment. CRC anticipates City Council consideration in mid-2026, though that timeline is almost certainly optimistic given where the EIR process stands. A divided or hostile council could deny or significantly alter the project. The city's recent history of challenging state housing mandates adds political unpredictability.
- 4. California Coastal Commission Because the property is in the Coastal Zone, any amendment to the Local Coastal Program requires Coastal Commission approval. This is an independent state body, and it has final authority over LCP changes regardless of what the city approves. The Coastal Commission has rejected other Huntington Beach proposals in the past. Its review will scrutinize public access, visual corridors, wetland buffers, and whether the development is consistent with the Coastal Act's requirements for protecting coastal resources.
- 5. Soil Remediation and Well Abandonment Even after all regulatory approvals are secured, the active oil and gas infrastructure on the site must be formally abandoned and the land remediated to residential standards before construction can begin. With dozens of active wells and 100 years of hydrocarbon contamination already confirmed in testing, this process involves the California Department of Conservation's Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources as well as regional water quality regulators. The cleanup timeline is unknown at this stage but could add years to the schedule.
CRC's stated timeline has City Council consideration in mid-2026, which would put Coastal Commission review in late 2026 or 2027. Realistically, a project of this scale and controversy is unlikely to break ground before 2029 at the earliest, and a 2030 or later start date is more plausible.
Opposition and Environmental Concerns
This project has drawn scrutiny on multiple fronts, and formal opposition is expected to intensify as the EIR process moves forward.
Bolsa Chica Wetlands Adjacency
The most historically charged issue is the project's proximity to the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve. Amigos de Bolsa Chica, a nonprofit conservation organization founded in 1976, has spent decades fighting to protect the wetlands from development. Their campaigns helped reduce a proposed development on the Bolsa Chica mesa from thousands of homes to a fraction of that, and they were instrumental in the state's acquisition of 880 acres of wetlands in 1997. The CRC property is directly south of the reserve boundary. Environmental groups will argue that residential development this close to the wetlands poses risks to habitat, hydrology, and bird populations that use the reserve. The Coastal Commission will weigh these concerns heavily.
Soil Contamination
CRC has already confirmed the presence of hydrocarbons and metals in soil testing. The company describes these findings as typical of oilfield sites and says testing results will be shared with the city and regulators during the EIR process. Environmental advocates and prospective residents will want to see independent verification that remediation standards are met before housing is occupied. Building 800 homes on a former industrial site with known contamination will require detailed remediation plans, monitoring commitments, and regulatory sign-off from multiple agencies. Opponents will argue that the remediation plan needs to be finalized and verified before any residential entitlements are granted.
Industrial Neighbors
The site's surroundings add complexity to the residential case. The AES Huntington Beach power plant and the Orange County Sanitation District's treatment facility are within close proximity. CalEnviroScreen, the state's environmental health screening tool, scores this area in elevated percentiles for solid waste facilities and toxic releases. Placing 800 homes and a hotel in this industrial corridor will draw questions about long-term air quality and quality of life that the EIR must address.
California Coastal Commission Dynamics
The Coastal Commission is an independent check on any project in the Coastal Zone, and its track record with Huntington Beach is not friendly. The commission rejected the city's proposed desalination plant. It has a long history of scrutinizing development near wetlands. Even if the city approves everything CRC needs, the Coastal Commission can independently deny the LCP amendment. The commission will conduct its own analysis of public access, wetland buffers, and consistency with the Coastal Act, and its review is not bound by what the city decides.
Huntington Beach's Political Landscape
Huntington Beach has spent several years fighting California's housing mandates in court, challenging the state's authority to require cities to zone for specific numbers of homes. The city lost those battles. In December 2025, a San Diego Superior Court ordered Huntington Beach to adopt a compliant housing element within 120 days. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the city's federal challenge in February 2026. A revised housing element has since been moving through the approval process. The CRC project sits inside this contested political environment. A city that resisted state housing pressure for years is now being asked to approve a major rezoning of coastal oil land for residential use. Whether the current City Council views this project favorably, as a housing win, or skeptically, as an environmental liability, will shape the outcome of the local approval process.
About California Resources Corporation
California Resources Corporation is an independent oil and gas company headquartered in Long Beach. It was spun off from Occidental Petroleum in 2014 and focuses exclusively on California oil and gas operations. CRC has framed the Huntington Beach redevelopment as part of a longer-term transition of its California assets, with the proceeds from the land's development value helping to support the company's energy business.
The company purchased the property through its Aera Energy subsidiary and has owned and operated the Huntington Beach oil field for decades. When the Palm/Goldenwest Specific Plan was adopted in 2000, it explicitly anticipated that Aera (now CRC) would eventually seek to redevelop the property but deferred that process to the future. That future has now arrived. CRC launched a public-facing website at crchbproperty.com to share project information and gather community input, which is an unusual step for an early-stage land use application and signals that the company is aware of the public relations dimension of this project alongside the regulatory one.
CRC has stated it does not yet have a homebuilder partner identified and is not yet accepting buyer interest. The company is focused on securing land use approvals before engaging production builders. The identity of the eventual builder will matter, because the product type, pricing, and sales timeline depend on who CRC partners with once the entitlements are in hand.
What This Means for Buyers: Early Stage, Long Timeline
If you are interested in owning a home on this site, the realistic expectation is that you will not be touring models for at least four to five years and possibly longer. The EIR alone will take the better part of two years to complete. City approvals follow that. Coastal Commission review follows city approvals. Remediation and well abandonment follow regulatory approval. Builder selection, entitlement mapping, and construction come after that. A 2030 opening would be optimistic. 2031 or 2032 is more realistic for the first homes to deliver.
That said, this is worth tracking if you are interested in Huntington Beach coastal housing. It is one of the only opportunities for new for-sale ownership housing on or near the beach in all of Orange County, at a scale that has not been seen in this market in decades. When homes do come to market, demand will be high and supply will be limited relative to the interest. Buyers who follow the project from early in the process will be better positioned to move quickly when a sales program is announced.
We monitor this project and every other significant new development across Huntington Beach and Orange County. If you want to be notified when CRC selects a builder, opens a waitlist, or releases pricing, reach out directly and we will keep you in the loop.
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