By Eric Engelbert
600 Apartments Where Newport Center's Office Core Stands Today
This is the fourth in a series of individual project profiles covering Newport Beach's residential development pipeline. The first three focused on projects that are either under construction or in active appeals. Block 100 is different: it is a project in the planning and design phase, approved at the zoning level but not yet permitted for construction. It is also the largest single residential project the Irvine Company has proposed within Newport Center's inner ring, and it sits on some of the most valuable land in Orange County.
Block 100 refers to a cluster of low-rise office buildings at 100 to 190 Newport Center Drive, bordered by Newport Center Drive, Anacapa Drive, and Civic Center Drive, within a short walk of both Fashion Island and Newport Beach City Hall. The Irvine Company has filed plans to demolish approximately 141,000 square feet of existing office space on the block and replace it with up to 600 luxury apartments in five-story podium buildings.
If the project is built as planned, it would be the single largest addition to Newport Beach's rental housing stock in a generation, concentrated on a block that has been office-only for half a century.
What Is on Block 100 Today
The Block 100 area of Newport Center developed as low-rise professional office space in the 1970s and 1980s, consistent with the original Irvine Company master plan for Newport Center as a business and retail hub rather than a residential neighborhood. The buildings in the 100 to 190 Newport Center Drive address range are one- to three-story commercial structures, most of them approaching or exceeding 50 years old.
The most prominent of them is 100 Newport Center Drive, a roughly 17,400-square-foot building with an unusual history. It was long home to the Newport Sports Museum, an exhibit of sports memorabilia and trophies that drew visitors and local school groups for years. The museum eventually closed, and the building sat vacant while its prior owner, Iridium Property Investments, a local family office, explored redevelopment options. A plan to rebuild it as modern office space was proposed but never moved forward.
The Irvine Company acquired 100 Newport Center Drive from Iridium Property Investments for approximately $36.5 million. At roughly $2,100 per square foot for a 17,400-square-foot building, the acquisition was reported to be the highest price per square foot ever paid for an Orange County office property larger than 15,000 square feet. The price reflects the land value more than the building value: 100 Newport Center Drive is essentially a tear-down, and the Irvine Company bought it for its location within a block it intends to redevelop entirely.
Other parcels within Block 100, including 190 Newport Center Drive, were already part of the Irvine Company's long-held Newport Center portfolio, owned continuously since the company laid out Newport Center in the 1960s and 1970s.
The Project: 600 Apartments, Five Stories, One of Newport Center's Most Prominent Blocks
The Irvine Company's plans call for demolishing the existing office buildings at 100 to 190 Newport Center Drive and replacing them with up to 600 apartments in five-story podium-type buildings with two levels of underground parking. Total office square footage being removed: approximately 141,000 square feet.
The buildings are designed by MVE + Partners, the Irvine-based architecture firm that is also the architect of record for the Ritz-Carlton Residences at 900 Newport Center Drive. MVE has a long history in Newport Center and Orange County high-rise and podium residential design. For Block 100, a five-story podium format is consistent with the surrounding Newport Center scale while maximizing density within the PC-56 framework.
The Block 100 zoning now permits residential buildings up to 125 feet in height, well above the five-story podium plan. That height allowance was part of the PC-56 amendment package and leaves the door open for a future taller version of the project if market conditions or developer objectives change before construction permits are issued.
No unit mix, floor plan sizes, or amenity details have been publicly released. The 600-unit count is the approved maximum under the current plans.
Address: 100-190 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach
Plan: Up to 600 luxury apartments
Format: 5-story podium buildings, 2-level underground parking
Office removed: approximately 141,000 sq ft
Height limit: up to 125 feet (under PC-56)
Architect: MVE + Partners
Status: Planning and design phase as of July 2026
Construction start: not yet announced
The Zoning Amendment That Unlocked Block 100
The Block 100 parcels were zoned for office and regional commercial use for decades. Converting them to residential required a formal zoning amendment, which is a more significant step than the administrative PC-56 approval that covered the 800 San Clemente parking-to-apartments project.
The Newport Beach Planning Commission voted 5-0 on March 21, 2025 to approve amendments to the North Newport Center Planned Community zoning (PC-56). The Irvine Company requested the amendments as part of a comprehensive update to the PC-56 framework, including several key changes:
- Rezoning of 100 and 190 Newport Center Drive from office-regional to PC-56 residential
- Vesting the Irvine Company's right to build up to 1,500 residential units within Newport Center
- Increased building height limits for Fashion Island, Block 100, and San Joaquin Plaza
- Modified parking standards for residential uses
- Updated open space, signage, and design standards
The unanimous 5-0 vote reflected broad Planning Commission support for the Irvine Company's overall Newport Center residential strategy. Unlike projects that require Council appeals or face organized community opposition, the PC-56 framework gives the Irvine Company a pre-approved path within established parameters. Block 100's rezoning was the most significant individual action in the March 2025 amendment package because it converted land that had been zoned commercial since the 1970s to a residential use for the first time.
No construction permits have been issued for Block 100 as of July 2026. The project remains in design development, and the Irvine Company has not announced a construction start date or projected completion timeline.
Why Office-to-Residential Makes Sense Here
Newport Center's office market has faced pressure for years. Remote and hybrid work reduced demand for traditional suburban office space after 2020, and some Newport Center office buildings have struggled with vacancy. The 141,000 square feet being cleared on Block 100 represents office product that is approaching 50 years old, functionally obsolete by current standards, and sitting on some of the most coveted real estate in Orange County.
Newport Beach city planners actively encouraged the conversion. The city needs to plan for 4,845 new housing units by 2029 under its state-mandated Housing Element, and Newport Center is one of the few places in the city where residential density can be added near existing infrastructure without demolishing established neighborhoods. Converting underperforming office space to housing accomplishes that without displacing existing residents.
The Irvine Company benefits on both sides of the equation. It removes aging, lower-yield office product from its portfolio and replaces it with luxury rental apartments, which have historically been among the most resilient and high-performing asset types in Orange County's supply-constrained coastal markets. The company keeps the land, builds on it, and collects rent indefinitely rather than selling.
Block 100 is not the only office-to-residential conversion the Irvine Company is pursuing. The company has also received approval to convert the MacArthur Court campus near John Wayne Airport into 700 apartments, a separate project in the Airport Area that is not part of the PC-56 Newport Center framework.
What Will Block 100 Apartments Rent For?
No pricing has been released. The project has not entered the permitting phase and is likely two to three years from a leasing launch at minimum, depending on when construction begins.
The best comparable in Newport Center is the existing Villas Fashion Island community at 1000 San Joaquin Plaza, where current rents start at approximately $5,195 per month and reach $8,000 to $9,000 per month for larger units. Block 100 sits in a similarly central Newport Center location, within walking distance of Fashion Island, and would offer comparable or slightly different price positioning depending on unit size, finish level, and amenities.
Applying current Newport Center market rent levels to a 600-unit project with an assumed mix of one- and two-bedroom units:
- One-bedroom units: estimated $4,800 to $6,200 per month at 2026-2027 rates
- Two-bedroom units: estimated $7,000 to $9,500 per month
- Annual revenue at full occupancy (600 units): potentially $45 million to $60 million per year
These estimates will shift depending on market conditions at the time of lease-up, which is unlikely to occur before 2028 or 2029 at the earliest given the current planning timeline.
There are no income-restricted units announced for Block 100. The Irvine Company's development agreement for Newport Center requires 105 affordable units by 2029, but the allocation of those units across specific projects has not been publicly detailed.
What Block 100 Means for Newport Beach's Tax Base
The Irvine Company's $36.5 million acquisition of 100 Newport Center Drive triggered a Proposition 13 reassessment of that parcel at the purchase price. For the other Block 100 parcels already owned by the Irvine Company, the Prop 13 assessed value reflects a much older acquisition base, likely a small fraction of current market value.
When Block 100 is developed and the new residential buildings go on the tax rolls, the improvement value of the new construction will be assessed at cost. A 600-unit, five-story podium apartment complex in Newport Beach would represent a construction investment likely in the range of $250 million to $350 million. Adding that construction value to the combined land assessment would produce a significantly higher total assessed value than the current office buildings generate.
Approximate annual property tax at 1.1% of a $300 million combined assessed value:
- Total annual property tax: approximately $3.3 million
- Newport Beach's share at roughly 17 cents per dollar: approximately $560,000 per year
Because the Irvine Company retains the apartments rather than selling individual units, each unit does not get reassessed at a sale price. The fiscal benefit to Newport Beach is real but more modest than it would be for an equivalent for-sale condominium project. The larger economic contribution is indirect: 600 new households in Newport Center increases Fashion Island sales tax revenue, supports local businesses, and deepens the rationale for continued investment in the surrounding commercial district, all of which benefit the Irvine Company's broader Newport Center holdings as well.
Block 100's Place in the 1,500-Unit Newport Center Master Plan
The Irvine Company's 1,500-unit vested right in Newport Center is the largest single residential allocation in the city's history. Block 100 at 600 units is the single largest component of that allocation.
Combining the three Irvine Company Newport Center residential projects in the current pipeline:
- 800 San Clemente Drive (Villas Fashion Island Phase 2): 184 units, under construction, completion early 2028
- Block 100 (100-190 Newport Center Drive): up to 600 units, in planning, no construction start date
- Remaining 1,500-unit allocation: approximately 716 units to be deployed across future Newport Center sites
The Irvine Company has also received separate approval for 700 apartments at the MacArthur Court campus near John Wayne Airport, which sits outside the PC-56 Newport Center framework and counts toward Newport Beach's housing goals through a different entitlement path.
Taken together, the Irvine Company's currently approved and planned residential pipeline across Newport Beach exceeds 1,500 units from Newport Center alone, plus 700 more at MacArthur Court. This is the most aggressive residential development program the company has undertaken within Newport Beach since the original construction of Villas Fashion Island in 2017.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is at 100-190 Newport Center Drive today?
The Block 100 area currently contains a cluster of one- to three-story office buildings, most built in the 1970s and 1980s. The most notable is 100 Newport Center Drive, the former home of the Newport Sports Museum, which the Irvine Company acquired from Iridium Property Investments for $36.5 million. The other buildings in the block are aging commercial structures that are approaching the end of their useful life as competitive office space.
How many apartments will Block 100 have?
The approved plan calls for up to 600 apartments in five-story podium buildings with two levels of underground parking. The unit mix, floor plan sizes, and amenities have not been publicly released.
When will Block 100 break ground?
No construction start date has been announced. The PC-56 zoning amendment that rezoned the block for residential use was approved by the Newport Beach Planning Commission in March 2025. As of July 2026, the project remains in the planning and design phase. A realistic construction start is likely no earlier than 2027, with completion potentially in 2029 or 2030.
Who is the architect?
MVE + Partners, an Irvine-based architectural firm, is the designer of record. MVE is also the architect for the Ritz-Carlton Residences at 900 Newport Center Drive and has a long track record of residential and mixed-use projects throughout Orange County.
Are there affordable units in Block 100?
No affordable units have been announced for Block 100 specifically. The Irvine Company's broader Newport Center development agreement requires 105 affordable units across its Newport Center projects by 2029, but the allocation of those units by project and location has not been publicly detailed.
Newport Beach Is Changing: What It Means for Buyers and Renters
Block 100, combined with the other projects in this series, represents the largest wave of residential development Newport Beach has seen in decades. Whether you are planning to rent in Newport Center, looking to buy before the market shifts, or simply trying to understand where values are headed, I can help you think through your options.
