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Aug. 12, 2026

Portola Center Lake Forest: From Business Park Land to 926 Homes and a $6.6M Stormwater Fine

Portola Center: 195 Acres, Three Areas, and One Very Expensive Lesson in Hillside Grading

The name Portola reaches back to 1769, when Spanish military governor Gaspar de Portola led the first European land expedition through California. His route passed through the Saddleback Valley, and the hills above what is now Lake Forest bear his name in two neighboring communities: Portola Hills and Portola Center. The latter is a 195-acre master-planned community that Baldwin & Sons spent years shepherding through entitlements, environmental review, and ultimately a record-setting state enforcement action before the first home was ever sold.

Portola Center sits at the intersection of Glenn Ranch Road and Saddleback Ranch Road in northeast Lake Forest, on land that the City had previously designated for business park and commercial use. Through the city's Opportunities Study Area process, that designation changed to residential and mixed-use in 2008. What followed was a 15-year build-out that now stands nearly complete at 926 homes, a 5-acre public park, 44 acres of open space, trails linking to Whiting Ranch Regional Park, and a 58-unit affordable senior housing project that filled its waiting list with more than 1,000 names within weeks of opening.

195Acres

926Homes at Buildout

3Planning Areas

44+Acres Open Space

$6.6MStormwater Fine

From Business Park Zoning to Residential: The OSA Redesignation

Before Portola Center existed as a concept, the 195 acres at the Glenn Ranch Road and Saddleback Ranch Road intersection carried Business Park and Commercial land use designations. In a city that incorporated in 1991 and grew rapidly through the 1990s and 2000s, undeveloped land near the 241 Toll Road had long been eyed for employment uses. Office parks, light industrial, and commercial projects were the assumed trajectory for this northeast corner of the city.

That trajectory changed when Lake Forest undertook its Opportunities Study Area planning process in the mid-2000s. The OSA was a comprehensive review of several large undeveloped parcels within city limits, each of which carried land use designations that no longer aligned with market demand or city priorities. The program EIR for the OSA was certified in July 2008, the same document that set the environmental baseline for Baker Ranch. Through that process, the Portola Center site was redesignated from Business Park and Commercial to a mix of Low-Density Residential, Medium-Density Residential, Mixed-Use, and Open Space.

The terrain made this transition both appealing and complicated. The northern portion of the site sits on a relatively flat mesa with views toward the surrounding foothills. The southern portion, which represents approximately 95 of the 195 acres, drops sharply into steep, sloping terrain draining toward Aliso Creek and its tributaries. That slope would become central to the project's most serious challenge.

Aliso Creek, which runs adjacent to the south portion of the site, falls within the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board's jurisdiction despite being in Orange County. This jurisdictional detail matters: enforcement actions related to discharges from the project site would be handled not by the local Santa Ana RWQCB but by the San Diego board, which proved to be a consequential distinction for Baldwin & Sons.

Entitlements: Area Plan, Two Tract Maps, and 27 CEQA Filings

Baldwin & Sons submitted Area Plan AP 2008-01 to the City of Lake Forest, setting the development framework for the full 195-acre site. Two Tentative Tract Maps governed the north and south parcels: TTM 17300 covered the land north of Glenn Ranch Road, proposing two single-family neighborhoods on either side of Saddleback Ranch Road, while TTM 15353 covered the south parcel with a more complex mix of single-family, multi-family, and mixed-use development.

The CEQA record opened under State Clearinghouse Number 2012061063. The City prepared a Supplemental EIR tiering off the OSA Program EIR certified in 2008. The SEIR was filed for state review on June 28, 2013, with the review period closing August 12, 2013. The project generated 27 documents in the CEQA record, covering issues including geology and soils, hydrology and water quality, biological resources, cultural resources, wetland and riparian habitat, wildfire, and growth inducement.

The California Native American Heritage Commission commented during the review period, as it had on Baker Ranch, flagging concerns about potential cultural resources within the project footprint. The San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board's involvement through Aliso Creek added a second regulatory layer that would later prove significant. The City Council approved the Area Plan and accompanying entitlements, and the Development Agreement was executed to govern phased construction obligations.

Entitlement / Action	Detail	Date
CEQA SCH Number	2012061063	2012
OSA Program EIR	Baseline EIR covering all OSA sites including Portola Center	July 2008
Area Plan	AP 2008-01 by Baldwin & Sons	Approved ~2013
Supplemental EIR Filed	SIR tiering off OSA Program EIR; state review period opens	June 28, 2013
State Review Closes	27 CEQA documents in project record	Aug 12, 2013
TTM 17300	North of Glenn Ranch Road; two single-family neighborhoods	Approved
TTM 15353	South of Glenn Ranch Road; mixed residential and mixed-use	Approved
Development Agreement	Executed with City of Lake Forest; governs phasing obligations	Approved
Total CEQA Documents	27 filings across the project record	2012-2017+

Project issues identified in the SEIR included air quality, greenhouse gas emissions, traffic, noise, public services, schools, solid waste, and sewer capacity — the full suite expected for a 926-unit development — alongside the more site-specific concerns around the steep south parcel's hydrology, Aliso Creek riparian habitat, and potential cultural resources.

Three Planning Areas, One Master Plan

The City of Lake Forest divides Portola Center into three distinct planning areas, each reflecting the different terrain and development mix on either side of Glenn Ranch Road and Saddleback Ranch Road.

Northwest: The Oaks

The smallest of the three areas, the northwest quadrant covers 22.5 acres north of Glenn Ranch Road and east of Saddleback Ranch Road. Baldwin & Sons developed this parcel under the name "The Oaks at Portola Center," building 81 single-family homes alongside trails and a private half-acre neighborhood park. This portion of the project was the most straightforward to develop, sitting on the flatter northern mesa. By December 2020, The Oaks was fully developed with essentially all homes sold.

Northeast

The northeast quadrant sits north of Glenn Ranch Road and west of Saddleback Ranch Road. Along with the northwest area, it falls under TTM 17300. This area contains additional single-family residential development as part of the northern planning areas approved by the Area Plan.

South: Portola Center South

The south planning area is the most complex. Governed by TTM 15353, it covers the 95-acre parcel south of Glenn Ranch Road on steep, sloping terrain that descends toward Aliso Creek. This area contains the mixed-use component with the neighborhood commercial space, the Portola Senior Apartments, and additional market-rate residential neighborhoods. It was here that the project's most significant environmental challenges emerged during grading operations.

Planning Area	Location	Size / Homes	Status
Northwest (The Oaks)	North of Glenn Ranch, east of Saddleback Ranch	22.5 acres / 81 homes	Fully built out (Dec 2020)
Northeast	North of Glenn Ranch, west of Saddleback Ranch	TTM 17300	Built out
South (Portola Center South)	South of Glenn Ranch Road	95 acres / mixed use + residential	Built out; senior apts opened Nov 2023

Parks, Trails, and the Perimeter Open Space

The Portola Center masterplan places significant emphasis on parks and outdoor connectivity. The city's approval required a total of 10.8 acres of parkland distributed across a public community park and three private neighborhood parks, plus more than 44 acres of open space and a trail network that connects to the regional park system.

5-Acre Community Park

A public 5-acre community park anchors Portola Center's recreational offering, with playgrounds, picnic areas, and sports fields accessible to residents and the general public. The park serves as a community hub for the surrounding neighborhoods in northeast Lake Forest.

Private Neighborhood Parks

Three private neighborhood parks totaling more than 10 acres serve Portola Center residents, including one park with a recreation center and swimming pool. Exercise stations are incorporated into the trail system connecting the parks to the open space perimeter.

The Perimeter Trail and Open Space

The defining outdoor feature of Portola Center is its 1.5-mile Perimeter Trail, available to the public. The trail runs along the open space edge of the community and connects to the County of Orange's regional trail network, providing access to Whiting Ranch Regional Park — the same wilderness area that flanks Baker Ranch to the north. Over 44 acres of open space surrounds the community, with Aliso Creek forming part of the natural edge along the south planning area.

Open Space / Park Feature	Detail
5-Acre Community Park (public)	Playgrounds, picnic areas, sports fields
Private Neighborhood Parks (3)	10+ acres total; one includes rec center and pool
Open Space	44+ acres
Perimeter Trail (public)	1.5 miles; connects to OC regional trail network
Regional Connection	Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park access via trail
Commercial Space	10,000 SF neighborhood commercial / retail

Steep Terrain, Aliso Creek, and a $6.6 Million Record Fine

The south planning area's 95 acres of steep, sloping terrain presented a significant grading challenge from the start. During wet weather, sediment on hillside construction sites flows downhill and carries pollutants directly into receiving waterways. The Statewide Construction Stormwater Permit requires developers to implement specific best management practices (BMPs) to prevent this: slope stabilization, erosion controls, sediment containment, and work stoppages during rain events.

From August 2015 to March 2016, Baldwin & Sons and its partners did not adequately implement those measures at Portola Center South. Over 162 days, the site violated its stormwater permit. During that period, an estimated 6.3 million gallons of untreated stormwater discharged from the construction site, carrying sediment and pollutants into Aliso Creek and its tributaries. Sediment discharge clouds receiving water, reduces sunlight reaching aquatic plants, clogs fish gills, smothers spawning areas, and transports nutrients, metals, and oil and grease that damage aquatic habitat.

The City of Lake Forest asked the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board to intervene. Board staff began working with site operators in December 2015 and conducted the first of several inspections in January 2016. Multiple corrective action orders and cease-and-desist orders followed. The developer ignored them. The investigation was further complicated by the company's refusal to provide information required under a state subpoena and by the complex web of related corporate entities involved in the project.

"The sheer number and days of violations, volume of polluted discharges, and repeated failures to comply with the most fundamental requirements... are unprecedented in this region."

David Gibson, Executive Officer, San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board, June 2022

The San Diego RWQCB issued an Administrative Civil Liability complaint in January 2020, after years of unsuccessful negotiations. Following three public hearings in January 2022, the board approved a $6.6 million penalty on June 8, 2022 — the largest ever imposed by that board for construction stormwater violations. The named violating parties were: Baldwin & Sons; SunRanch Capital Partners, LLC; Sunrise Pacific Construction, Inc.; and SRC-PH Investments, LLC, along with responsible corporate officers Shawn M. Baldwin, Randall G. Bone, and Jose Capati. The fine was deposited in the State Water Board's Clean Up and Abatement Account to fund remediation and safe drinking water projects.

It is worth noting that SunRanch Capital Partners and Sunrise Pacific Construction — both named in the enforcement action — also appear in the development and construction of the Portola Senior Apartments on the same south parcel, serving as soft lender and general contractor respectively for the affordable housing project. The senior apartments opened in November 2023, years after the violations and after the enforcement process had run its course.

Portola Senior Apartments: Community HousingWorks' First Orange County Project

Embedded within the mixed-use south planning area is Portola Senior Apartments, a four-story standalone building with ground-floor retail that represents one of the most in-demand affordable housing projects to open in Orange County in recent years. The project was developed by Community HousingWorks (CHW), a San Diego-based nonprofit that has developed affordable housing across California — but never before in Orange County.

Portola Senior Apartments contains 58 one-bedroom apartments, including one unit reserved for an on-site property manager. The remaining 57 units are available to singles or couples age 62 and older who are living at 50 percent of the area median income or below, which translates to approximately $50,000 per year in Lake Forest. Rent is approximately $1,264 per month after a utility allowance — well below market rate for a one-bedroom in south Orange County.

The demand was immediate and overwhelming. Over 750 people applied to live at Portola within three months of the interest list opening. The building reached 100 percent occupancy within 30 days of opening in November 2023. The waiting list exceeded 1,000 names shortly after. That level of demand in a city of roughly 90,000 people reflects the acute shortage of below-market senior housing across Orange County.

Financing and Development Team

The financing stack for Portola Senior Apartments drew on multiple public and private sources, a structure typical of affordable housing tax-credit projects in California:

Role	Entity
Developer	Community HousingWorks (CHW)
Construction & Permanent Lender	Pacific Western Bank
Tax Credit Equity Investor	Red Stone Equity Partners
Soft Lender	SunRanch Capital Partners LLC
Bond Issuer	California Municipal Finance Authority
Tax Credits	California Tax Credit Allocation Committee
Debt Limit Allocation	California Debt Limit Allocation Committee
General Contractor	Sunrise Pacific Construction Inc.
Architect	AVRP Studios
Civil Engineering	Lundstrom Engineering & Surveying; Hunsaker & Associates
Landscape Architect	Ridge Landscape Architects

Portola Senior Apartments was Community HousingWorks' first project in Orange County among their portfolio of over 44 affordable communities across California. The project serves as both a housing resource and a retail anchor for the mixed-use south portion of Portola Center, with ground-floor commercial space that activates the street-level environment at the Glenn Ranch Road corridor.

Portola Center: Full Timeline

1769Gaspar de Portola leads the first European land expedition through the Saddleback Valley; his name later attached to the hills and communities in northeast Lake Forest
Pre-2008195-acre site carries Business Park and Commercial land use designations under the City of Lake Forest General Plan
July 2008Lake Forest certifies the Opportunities Study Area (OSA) Program EIR; the Portola Center site is redesignated from Business Park/Commercial to Residential, Mixed-Use, and Open Space
2012CEQA State Clearinghouse Number 2012061063 opened for Portola Center Project
June 28, 2013Supplemental EIR filed with state; review period opens for AP 2008-01 and TTMs 17300 and 15353
August 12, 2013State review period closes; NAHC and San Diego RWQCB among commenting agencies
~2013-2014City Council approves Area Plan and Development Agreement; entitlements finalized
August 2015Stormwater violations begin at Portola Center South during grading of 95-acre south parcel; 6.3 million gallons of untreated stormwater discharged over subsequent months
December 2015City of Lake Forest asks San Diego RWQCB to intervene; board staff begins working with site operators
January 2016San Diego RWQCB conducts first of several inspections; corrective and cease-and-desist orders issued — and repeatedly ignored by the developer
March 2016Stormwater violations period ends; 162 days of documented permit violations on the record
January 2020San Diego RWQCB issues Administrative Civil Liability complaint against Baldwin & Sons and partners after years of unsuccessful settlement negotiations
December 2020Portola Center Northwest (The Oaks) — 81 single-family homes — fully developed and substantially sold
January 2022San Diego RWQCB holds three public hearings on the enforcement action
June 8, 2022San Diego RWQCB approves record $6.6 million penalty against Baldwin & Sons, SunRanch Capital Partners, Sunrise Pacific Construction, and SRC-PH Investments
May 13, 2022City of Lake Forest breaks ground on Portola Senior Apartments with Community HousingWorks and SunRanch Capital Partners
November 2023Portola Senior Apartments opens; 750+ applications received within 3 months; 100% occupied within 30 days; waiting list exceeds 1,000
PresentPortola Center near full buildout at 926 homes; resale market active; 1.5-mile Perimeter Trail open to the public

Interested in Lake Forest Real Estate?

Portola Center is approaching full buildout, which means the market here is driven by resale activity. Homes in the community range from single-family detached to townhomes, with access to the public perimeter trail and proximity to the 241 Toll Road and El Toro Road. The community's school zone, Saddleback Valley Unified School District, is among the most highly regarded in Orange County. If you want to know what is currently available in Portola Center or anywhere in Lake Forest, reach out directly.

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Aug. 12, 2026

Baker Ranch Lake Forest: From V.P. Baker's Ranch to 2,380 Homes by Shea and Toll Brothers

Baker Ranch: The Last Great Parcel of a Lake Forest Legacy

The name Baker Ranch is not marketing language. It is history. In 1958, V.P. Baker acquired the Serrano Adobe and roughly 5,000 acres from the Whiting family, land that had already been shaped by a Mexican Land Grant, a Eucalyptus experiment, and the flight path of a Marine Corps air base. Baker and his partners held that land for decades. It slowly became the bones of what is now the City of Lake Forest.

When Shea Homes and Toll Brothers finally broke ground on 386 acres in the city's northeast corner, they were not simply building a new community. They were closing out one of Orange County's longest-running land stories. Baker Ranch, which opened its first village on February 8, 2014, stands today as a fully built-out master-planned community of 2,380 homes, resort-style parks, and no Mello-Roos taxes, on what developers described at the time as the last significant undeveloped parcel of the Baker and West families' original acquisition.

386Acres

2,380Homes Planned

3Villages

$0Mello-Roos

Feb 2014Grand Opening

From Spanish Land Grant to Eucalyptus Trees to a Marine Base Flight Path

The land beneath Baker Ranch has cycled through some of Southern California's most significant chapters. In the early 19th century, Don Jose Serrano settled the area under a Mexican Land Grant that covered thousands of acres across what is now south Orange County. The Serrano name survives today in Serrano Creek, which drains through the area.

In the late 1880s, Dwight Whiting acquired most of that property and established what became known as Whiting Ranch. In the 1890s, Whiting planted 400 acres of Eucalyptus trees as an agricultural experiment, expecting to sell the timber for railroad ties. The experiment failed commercially, but the massive grove gave the future city its name. When El Toro incorporated as a city in 1991, it did so as Lake Forest, a direct reference to those Eucalyptus stands that still border Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park today.

In 1958, the Whiting family sold the Serrano Adobe and approximately 5,000 acres to V.P. Baker. Together with the West family, Baker held this land through the postwar boom, the rise of Orange County's highway infrastructure, and the operation of the Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, whose flight paths passed directly over the northeastern corner of Lake Forest. The MCAS El Toro closure in 1999 cleared a major obstacle for development of parcels in this flight corridor. The land designated for what would become Baker Ranch was a mix of nursery operations, dry farming, and vacant hillside terrain, situated along the foothills above Borrego Canyon.

"Baker Ranch is the last significant portion of the roughly 5,000 acres of land acquired by the Baker and West families in the late 1950s, which has evolved into most of what is today's City of Lake Forest."

Toll Brothers CEO Douglas Yearley, September 2012

Entitlements: Eight Years from First Study to Certified SEIR

The path to breaking ground on Baker Ranch stretched over nearly a decade of planning and environmental review. The City of Lake Forest assigned State Clearinghouse Number 2004071039, which means the initial environmental study work for this site began in 2004. Over the next four years, the city developed a broad Opportunities Study Area (OSA) Program EIR covering this portion of northeast Lake Forest. That document was certified in July 2008.

When Shea/Baker Ranch Associates, LLC formally submitted its Area Plan application in 2011, the city was required to prepare a Supplemental EIR to address project-specific impacts not covered by the OSA Program EIR. The Notice of Preparation for that SEIR was filed January 13, 2012. A public comment period followed, during which the review attracted responses from more than a dozen state agencies, including the California Native American Heritage Commission, which raised concerns regarding potential Native American cultural resources on the site. That feedback prompted the study and circulation of a seventh project alternative beyond the six originally analyzed. The City Council certified the final Supplemental EIR on May 15, 2012.

Entitlement / Action	Detail	Date
CEQA SCH Number	2004071039	2004
OSA Program EIR	Opportunities Study Area Program EIR certified	July 2008
Area Plan Application	AP 2-11-1732 filed by Shea/Baker Ranch Associates, LLC	2011
Supplemental EIR NOP	Notice of Preparation for project-specific SEIR	Jan 13, 2012
SEIR Certified	Certified by Lake Forest City Council	May 15, 2012
Zoning Designation	Baker Ranch Planned Community (PC 1)	2012
Tentative Tract Map	VTTM 16466	2012
Phase 1 Tract Maps Recorded	7 tracts, 440 lots across 92.4 acres	Nov 2013
Total CEQA Documents	55 filings across the project record	2004-2015+

The project approval authorized up to 1,638 for-sale homes on approximately 308 acres, plus up to 741 rental apartment units on a 50-acre mixed-use portion, along with 25,000 square feet of commercial space and approximately 100 acres of open space. The zoning designation, Baker Ranch Planned Community (PC 1), was created specifically for this project and governs land use, density, and design standards across the 386.7-acre site.

Shea Homes and Toll Brothers: Two Giants, One Community

In June 2012, just weeks after the SEIR was certified, Shea Baker Ranch LLC and Toll Brothers announced a formal joint venture to develop the site together. It was a notable pairing. Shea Homes, part of the Shea family of companies, is one of the largest privately held homebuilders in the country with a history stretching back to 1881. Toll Brothers, listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TOL, was named Builder of the Year by Professional Builder magazine in 2012. Both companies had deep roots in Orange County.

Seth Ring, then president of Toll Brothers Southern California Division, emphasized one feature above all others at the time: Baker Ranch residents would pay no Mello-Roos taxes. In a market where many comparable master-planned communities carried annual special assessments of several thousand dollars per household, that distinction was significant. More than 5,000 prospective buyers registered on the Baker Ranch information list before the February 2014 grand opening.

Builder	Role	Neighborhood Examples
Shea Homes	Lead developer / co-builder	Brookland, The Knolls, Ridgewood, The Peake, Bristol, The Courts
Toll Brothers	Co-developer / co-builder	Parkview, and additional villages

The community was structured in three villages. Village One, which debuted at the February 8, 2014 grand opening, launched with six residential neighborhoods offering single-family detached homes, townhomes, and attached residences. Bob Yoder, then president of Shea Homes Southern California Division, said at the time that Baker Ranch was "the most highly anticipated new planned community to debut in Orange County in 2014." More than 100 homes sold within the first month of opening.

Neighborhoods, Parks, and Open Space

At full buildout, Baker Ranch encompasses 2,380 homes across more than a dozen neighborhoods ranging from attached townhomes of approximately 1,200 square feet to luxury single-family residences over 4,000 square feet. The community sits atop a broad mesa with views of the surrounding foothills and is framed by roughly 900 acres of adjacent open space.

Neighborhood	Notes
Brookland	Shea Homes, Village One launch neighborhood
The Knolls	Shea Homes, Village One
Ridgewood	Shea Homes, Village One
Parkview	Toll Brothers, Village One
The Peake	Shea Homes, single-family detached
Bristol	Shea Homes, attached residences
The Courts	Shea Homes
The Landing	Attached residences, 1,692-2,017 SF
Crestline, Highlands East, Summit	Additional villages
The Crossings, The Trails, Viewpoint	Additional villages

Parks and Recreation

The masterplan by JZMK Partners placed parks and trails at the center of the community's identity. A Central Linear Park runs through the heart of Baker Ranch. The Grove clubhouse anchors the recreational experience with a resort-style lagoon pool and spa, cabanas, and a separate quiet pool area. The sport-oriented Baker Ranch Community Park includes multiple athletic fields, hard courts, playgrounds, a 30,000-square-foot recreation center with gymnasium, and an attached amphitheater.

Perhaps the most distinctive feature is the Borrego Linear Park, a multi-user trail that runs along a portion of the Borrego Canyon Wash and connects directly to the County of Orange regional trail network. From Baker Ranch, residents can reach thousands of acres of open space at Limestone Canyon Regional Park and Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park, the same land that Dwight Whiting planted with Eucalyptus more than a century ago.

Schools

Baker Ranch falls within the Saddleback Valley Unified School District, which is ranked among Orange County's top five school districts. SVUSD holds more California Distinguished School designations than any other district in the state. The local El Toro High School ranks in the top 10 percent nationally.

Environmental Review, Borrego Canyon, and the Hillside Terrain

The Baker Ranch site presented real environmental complexity. The 386-acre parcel sits in the foothills of Lake Forest, which means significant grade changes and the presence of Borrego Canyon Wash running along the length of the property. The SEIR addressed the hillside terrain, drainage patterns, water quality impacts, and the health of the wash. The Regional Water Quality Control Board for the Santa Ana Region and the California Department of Water Resources were both among the state agencies that reviewed the supplemental EIR, as was the Department of Toxic Substances Control.

As a condition of approval, the project is required to improve and revegetate the Borrego Canyon Wash along the full length of the property. This commitment became the foundation for the Borrego Linear Park, which doubles as both a recreational amenity and an environmental restoration corridor. Native plantings along the wash stabilize the streambank and support local wildlife movement between the open space areas that border the community.

The California Native American Heritage Commission commented during the SEIR public comment period, flagging the potential for cultural resources within the project footprint. That input led the city to develop and circulate a seventh project alternative for additional review before the SEIR was finalized. Cultural resource surveys and mitigation monitoring requirements were incorporated into the project conditions.

The site's prior use as agricultural and nursery land, combined with its position on the edge of developed Lake Forest, meant the primary environmental sensitivities were biological, hydrological, and cultural rather than toxic. No significant contamination issues from prior uses were identified in the public record.

Baker Ranch: Full Timeline

Early 19th CenturyDon Jose Serrano settles the area under a Mexican Land Grant
Late 1880sDwight Whiting acquires the Serrano land and establishes Whiting Ranch
1890sWhiting plants 400 acres of Eucalyptus, inspiring the future name "Lake Forest"
1958Whiting family sells the Serrano Adobe and approximately 5,000 acres to V.P. Baker; Baker and West families hold the land
1999Marine Corps Air Station El Toro closes, removing the primary development constraint from the northeast Lake Forest hillsides
1991El Toro incorporates as the City of Lake Forest
2004City of Lake Forest opens CEQA State Clearinghouse Number 2004071039 for Baker Ranch area studies
July 2008Opportunities Study Area Program EIR certified by the City of Lake Forest
2011Shea/Baker Ranch Associates, LLC submits Area Plan AP 2-11-1732 and Tentative Tract Map 16466
January 13, 2012City files Notice of Preparation for the Supplemental EIR; state review period opens
2012California Native American Heritage Commission comments; seventh project alternative developed and circulated
May 15, 2012Lake Forest City Council certifies the Supplemental EIR; Baker Ranch Planned Community (PC 1) zoning established
June 2012Shea Baker Ranch LLC and Toll Brothers announce joint venture partnership
November 2013Seven tract maps recorded for Phase 1: 440 lots across 92.4 acres
January 13, 2014Grand opening announced for February 8; more than 5,000 buyers on interest list
February 8, 2014Village One grand opening; thousands attend; six neighborhoods launch simultaneously
April 2014Over 100 homes sold in the first month of sales
2014-2020Remaining villages and neighborhoods open in phases; community reaches buildout
PresentBaker Ranch is a fully built-out community; resale market active; no Mello-Roos tax applies

Interested in Baker Ranch or Lake Forest Real Estate?

Baker Ranch is a fully built-out community, which means the opportunity here is in the resale market. Homes range from attached townhomes to large single-family residences, and the absence of Mello-Roos taxes continues to make the community a strong value compared to newer developments in south Orange County. If you want to know what is currently available, or what a home in Baker Ranch is worth in today's market, I am happy to help.

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Aug. 12, 2026

The Meadows at Lake Forest: How a 50-Year-Old Family Nursery Became One of Orange County's Most Talked-About Luxury Communities

For more than half a century, drivers coming off the 241 Toll Road and heading toward Bake Parkway would have passed a sprawling wholesale nursery tucked between Lake Forest Drive and Rancho Parkway. Nakase Brothers Wholesale Nursery had been operating on that 122-acre stretch of South Orange County since the late 1960s, long before Lake Forest was even an incorporated city. Rows of container plants, hoop houses, and the particular quiet of agricultural land defined a corner of the city that many residents drove past without thinking much about it.

That chapter closed when the Nakase family sold the property to Toll Brothers for north of $100 million. What replaced it is The Meadows, a master-planned community of luxury single-family homes, a private recreation center, senior affordable apartments, and seven public parks. The last phase of homes went on sale in April 2025, starting at $2,734,000. This is the full story of how that land got here.

122Acres

$100M+Land Purchase

675Max Homes

65Senior Affordable Units

Jan. 2020City Council Approval

The Land Before The Meadows: Nakase Brothers Wholesale Nursery

The Nakase family began farming the Lake Forest property in the late 1960s, well before the surrounding area developed into the suburban city it is today. What started as a family agricultural operation evolved into Nakase Brothers Wholesale Nursery, a commercial plant business operating at 20621 Lake Forest Drive. The nursery supplied plants to retailers and landscapers throughout Southern California, and the property remained in active agricultural use through the late 1990s and into the 2000s.

This kind of agricultural history is not unusual in South Orange County. Land that was ranched or farmed through the mid-20th century has been steadily converting to residential and commercial use as the region has built out. But at 122 acres, the Nakase property represented one of the last large undeveloped infill parcels left inside an already incorporated city in South OC.

For years the land sat in a kind of transition, no longer actively farmed at full scale but not yet approved for development. Toll Brothers had its eye on it. The initial purchase agreement between Toll Brothers and the Nakase family was struck around 2015, but the deal sat while Toll Brothers spent the next several years working through the city's entitlement process.

Toll Brothers paid north of $100 million for the 125-acre property, or more than $800,000 per acre. The pricing was unchanged from the initial agreement made about five years prior.

Orange County Business Journal, September 2020

The deal finally closed in 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic was upending real estate markets nationally. The fact that the price held at $100 million-plus was itself noteworthy. Land Advisors Organization brokers Allison Rawlins Tift and Mike Hunter represented Toll Brothers in the transaction. Tift noted at the time that these were "the first sizeable COVID-19 land transactions to occur in Orange County," and that the deal's adherence to pre-pandemic pricing demonstrated the underlying strength of the OC residential land market.

At more than $800,000 per acre, and roughly $130,000 per entitled lot, the price reflected the scarcity of large-format residential land inside established South OC cities. Entitlements for 675 homes had already been secured. The project's total value, once built out, was projected by sources to reach $400 million or more.

Toll Brothers was not a stranger to Lake Forest. The company had previously partnered with Shea Homes to develop Baker Ranch, the master-planned community just to the north. That familiarity with the city's planning department and approval process likely helped move the Meadows entitlement forward.

Three Years of Entitlements: What Toll Brothers Got Approved

The entitlement process for the Meadows took roughly three years, from around 2017 through January 2020. Toll Brothers applied for a General Plan Amendment to change the land use designation of the site, a zone change to establish a new Nakase Planned Community zoning district, and an Area Plan that set the design standards and character for the master-planned community.

The city required an Environmental Impact Report, which was prepared by an independent third-party environmental planning firm and analyzed more than 24 environmental categories including air quality, geology, soils, noise, biology, and cultural resources. The EIR was certified by the Lake Forest City Council on January 21, 2020, the same night the council voted to approve the project.

What the January 2020 approval authorized:

Component	Detail
Single-family homes	Up to 675 (541 initially approved; up to 134 additional on former school site)
Senior affordable apartments	Up to 101 planned; 65 built
Public parks	7 parks, totaling 11.32 required acres of public open space
Habitat / open space	10.4+ acres bordering Serrano Creek
School site	10-acre K-6 potential school site (subsequently declined by SVUSD)
Private amenities	Recreation center, 2 pools, 2 spas, sports courts
Trail access	Parallel trail connecting to Serrano Creek regional trail system
Development Agreement	Executed with Toll Brothers to establish rights, obligations, and public benefits

State law required the dedication of 11.32 acres of public open space as a condition of building up to 675 homes and 101 senior affordable units. The seven public parks and the public trail running parallel to Serrano Creek satisfy that requirement and must remain accessible to anyone, not just Meadows residents.

The School Site: How SVUSD Said No and Toll Brothers Got More Homes

One of the more interesting chapters in the Meadows story involves a 10-acre parcel that was set aside specifically for a potential elementary school. At the city's request, Toll Brothers and the Saddleback Valley Unified School District (SVUSD) executed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2019. The terms were straightforward: SVUSD would have up to four years to decide whether it wanted the school site, free from Toll Brothers and ready for construction. If the district declined, Toll Brothers would have the right to build additional homes on the parcel, up to the project's 675-home cap. And under the Development Agreement, SVUSD would receive $10 million from Toll Brothers if they chose not to build.

Toll Brothers did everything asked. It conducted four additional environmental and site studies at SVUSD's request, all of which found no concerns with the site's suitability for a California elementary school. The Environmental Impact Report had already cleared the site across every category the state requires for school construction.

On March 9, 2023, Saddleback Valley Unified notified the City and Toll Brothers that it would not pursue the new school. SVUSD accepted the $10 million payment instead. The decision freed Toll Brothers to build additional homes on the 10-acre parcel, bringing the project's total potential toward the 675-home ceiling.

The city does not have the authority to force a school district to accept a site or build a school, and no one compelled SVUSD to do either. But for the community around the Meadows, the decision is worth understanding. The school site was designed into the project and studied extensively. SVUSD weighed it and walked away with $10 million and no new school for the neighborhood.

The Community: Neighborhoods, Homes, and Amenities

The Meadows sits at the southeast corner of Bake Parkway and Rancho Parkway in Lake Forest, just south of the 241 Toll Road. Model homes opened November 2022 and the community has been selling actively since. At build-out, the project will include up to 675 single-family homes across multiple neighborhoods, a private recreation center for residents, and seven public parks open to all.

The Neighborhoods

Toll Brothers has released multiple named collections at The Meadows. The Sequoias is the final phase, announced in April 2025 with 57 remaining home sites. The Evergreens was an earlier collection. Each neighborhood is approved individually by the Planning Commission through a Site Development Permit process covering site plan, floor plans, architecture, and landscaping.

The Sequoias Collection (Final Phase)

Three home designs ranging from 3,403 to 3,559+ square feet. All homes include 5 bedrooms, 5.5 bathrooms, grand entries, and attached 2-car garages. Available options include multigenerational living suites with optional kitchenettes, floating staircases, a home office, a primary suite retreat or deck. Homes in the final phase are priced from $2,734,000, with quick move-in homes available through end of 2025. The Sales Center is at 191 Evergreen Way, Lake Forest, open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily (Wednesdays by appointment from 2 to 5 p.m.).

Amenities

Amenity	Detail
Recreation center	Large private facility for residents
Pools and spas	2 pools, 2 spas
Sports courts	Basketball, pickleball, volleyball
Parks (private)	12 acres for residents
Parks (public)	7 parks open to all, including playgrounds, open turf, shade shelters, picnic areas, BBQs
Open space / trails	10+ acres with trail connecting to Serrano Creek regional trails system
Habitat restoration	Protected area along Serrano Creek

Toll Brothers customers can personalize their home through the company's Design Studio, which lets buyers select finishes and options with the help of professional design consultants. The Meadows is a Toll Brothers Design Studio community.

The Senior Affordable Component: 65 Units at The Meadows

As part of the entitlement, Toll Brothers was required to include affordable senior housing within the project. The approved plan called for up to 101 senior affordable apartment units. The community ultimately includes 65 senior affordable units, serving residents 62 and older. The senior apartments are a separate building within the larger Meadows master plan.

This type of mixed-income requirement is common in large residential projects that go through a Development Agreement with a California city. The affordable component is one of the "public benefits" Toll Brothers committed to in exchange for the development rights and zoning approvals the city granted. Without the affordable units, the deal likely would not have moved through the council unanimously in January 2020.

Full Timeline: From Nursery to Near Sellout

Late 1960s Nakase family begins operating a nursery on the 122-acre Lake Forest Drive property
1990s – 2010s Site operates as Nakase Brothers Wholesale Nursery; property transitions away from active farming
~2015 Toll Brothers and the Nakase family reach a purchase agreement for north of $100 million; deal sits while entitlements are pursued
2017 – 2019 Toll Brothers works through Lake Forest's 3-year entitlement process; files GPA, zone change, Area Plan, Tentative Tract Map, and Development Agreement applications
December 23, 2019 Toll Brothers and Saddleback Valley Unified sign MOU establishing school site agreement and $10M payment option
January 21, 2020 Lake Forest City Council unanimously approves the Meadows; EIR certified the same night
2020 Toll Brothers closes on the land; deal price confirmed at north of $100M ($800,000+ per acre) despite COVID-19 pandemic; Land Advisors brokers the transaction
2021 Planning Commission begins approving individual neighborhood Site Development Permits; rough grading permits issued
November 8, 2022 Toll Brothers announces grand opening of 18 new model homes at The Meadows
March 9, 2023 SVUSD formally notifies the city and Toll Brothers it will not build the school; accepts $10M payment; Toll Brothers gets rights to build additional homes on the 10-acre school parcel up to the 675-home cap
April 3, 2025 Toll Brothers announces final opportunity at The Sequoias, the last phase of 57 home sites; prices from $2,734,000
End of 2025 Quick move-in homes available; community approaching sellout

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The Meadows is one of the most significant new residential communities Lake Forest has seen in decades. If you are thinking about buying a home in Lake Forest or anywhere in Orange County, I would be glad to help you understand what is available and what it is worth.

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Aug. 7, 2026

Candlestick Park: Where I Grew Up as a Sports Fan, and What an Irvine Developer Is Doing with the Land

My dad took me to my first professional baseball game at Candlestick Park. I was a kid sitting in those wind-whipped seats in the Bayview district of San Francisco watching Will Clark take batting practice and wondering how anyone could throw a slider past him. Chili Davis was in the lineup. Atlee Hammaker was on the mound. I was hooked.

A few years later my uncle took me to a couple of 49ers games at The Stick, as locals called it. We went to see Joe Montana and Ronnie Lott. Watching Montana orchestrate a two-minute drill from those stands was something I have never forgotten. The cold air off the Bay. The fog rolling in. The crowd erupting when he released one of those perfect spirals to Jerry Rice. That was Candlestick Park at its best.

The stadium is gone now. It came down in 2015. What remains is 270 acres of prime San Francisco bayfront land, a lot of broken promises to the surrounding community, and a massive residential and commercial redevelopment project being driven by an Irvine-based developer named FivePoint Holdings. I wanted to dig into all of it.

1960Year Opened

2013Last Sports Event

2015Demolished

7,200Homes Planned

270Total Acres

How Candlestick Got Built (and Why It Was Always Cold)

The story of Candlestick Park begins with the Giants leaving New York. Owner Horace Stoneham moved the franchise west for the 1958 season, and San Francisco promised him a new ballpark. Ground was broken in 1958. The stadium was formally named Candlestick Park on March 3, 1959, taking its name from Candlestick Point, the peninsula of land jutting into San Francisco Bay in the city's Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood.

The park opened on April 12, 1960. Vice President Richard Nixon threw out the ceremonial first pitch. It was the first modern stadium in America built entirely of reinforced concrete, and it seated 43,765 for baseball. Its position on the bay created a geography that would become both its calling card and its curse.

The wind was legendary. In the 1961 MLB All-Star Game at Candlestick, pitcher Stu Miller was famously called for a balk when a gust actually blew him off the mound mid-delivery. The game became one of the most cited examples of Candlestick's notoriously unpredictable conditions. The cold was real too. Summer in San Francisco's Bayview district is colder than most of the rest of the Bay Area because of marine layer and bay winds, and Candlestick sat directly in the path of that air.

Despite all of that, the Giants faithful came. The stadium hosted Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Orlando Cepeda, and Juan Marichal during the franchise's early glory years. The Giants became a San Francisco institution, and Candlestick was their home for four decades.

The Moments That Made Candlestick Legendary

The Beatles, August 29, 1966

The most famous non-sports event in the stadium's history happened during the Giants' tenure: the Beatles played their final ticketed concert at Candlestick Park on August 29, 1966. About 25,000 fans watched the band perform an 11-song set. They closed with "Long Tall Sally." It was the last paid performance of the Beatles' touring career. Their only subsequent live appearance as a group was the famous rooftop concert in London in 1969. If you went to that show at Candlestick, you witnessed history without knowing it.

The 1989 World Series Earthquake

On October 17, 1989, Candlestick Park was packed with fans for Game 3 of the World Series between the Giants and the Oakland Athletics. At 5:04 p.m., about 30 minutes before first pitch, a 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck. The Loma Prieta quake was captured live on national television and ultimately killed 67 people across the Bay Area. Candlestick Park itself withstood the quake with minimal structural damage, and the crowd inside was protected. The Series was suspended for 10 days, the only non-weather interruption in World Series history. When play resumed, Oakland swept the Giants in four games. But for a terrifying few minutes, the stadium became a shelter in a city that was falling apart around it.

The Name That Kept Changing

By the mid-1990s, naming rights deals had become the norm in professional sports, and Candlestick was not immune. Here is the full list of what the park was officially called at various points in its history:

Name	Years	Notes
Candlestick Park	1960 – 1995	Original name
3Com Park at Candlestick Point	1995 – 2002	$900,000/year naming rights deal with tech firm 3Com
San Francisco Stadium at Candlestick Point	2002 – 2004	Deal expired, no new sponsor
Monster Park	2004 – 2008	Monster Cable paid for naming rights; San Francisco voters passed a measure in November 2004 requiring the name revert to "Candlestick" permanently when the Monster deal expired
Candlestick Park	2008 – 2014	Name restored by voter initiative

Most San Franciscans just called it The Stick throughout all of it.

The 49ers Era: Montana, Lott, Rice, and the Dynasty

The San Francisco 49ers moved into Candlestick Park in 1971 as tenants of the Giants. The 49ers had played at Kezar Stadium across town since 1946 but needed something bigger. Candlestick was configured for football with a capacity that reached 69,732 at its peak, and the 49ers would call it home for more than four decades.

The most storied chapter at Candlestick belongs to the Bill Walsh era. Joe Montana quarterbacked the 49ers to four Super Bowl championships in the 1980s, and The Stick was where he built his legend. Ronnie Lott was one of the most feared safeties in NFL history. Jerry Rice was rewriting the record books. The combination made for one of the greatest dynasties the sport has seen, and Candlestick Park was the stage.

The football crowd was different from the baseball crowd. The stadium felt louder, louder and more chaotic. Winter 49ers games in January playoff football were brutal but electric. The cold that made summer baseball at Candlestick miserable was almost expected in January, and the crowd leaned into it. If you were there for a playoff run in the 1980s, you know what I mean.

The 49ers played their final game at Candlestick Park on December 23, 2013. They beat the Atlanta Falcons 34 to 24. The franchise moved to the newly built Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara for the 2014 season. For the 49ers, the move was long overdue. For the neighborhood and a generation of fans, it was the end of something that felt irreplaceable.

"Right now what we have in the absence of Candlestick stadium, which has been torn down for years, is a big gaping hole in the middle of a community. It is nothing but a pile of dirt."

Supervisor Shamann Walton, San Francisco Board of Supervisors, 2024

The Goodbye: McCartney, Demolition, and a Lot of Dirt

The Giants left Candlestick after the 1999 season, moving to what is now known as Oracle Park (then Pacific Bell Park) for the 2000 season. The park's final event as a music venue came in August 2014 when Paul McCartney played what was billed as a farewell concert. McCartney, who had of course been at the 1966 Beatles finale, played "Live and Let Die" and helped close out the stadium's public life.

Demolition began in 2014 and was substantially complete by September 24, 2015. The implosion of the stadium brought down a structure that had hosted presidents, World Series games, Super Bowl preparations, an earthquake, and the last paid concert the Beatles ever gave. When the dust cleared, 270 acres of San Francisco bayfront sat empty.

What happened next took a long time. Longer than almost anyone expected.

Why It Took Over a Decade: The Full Story

The Original Deal: Lennar Urban, 2010

The redevelopment of Candlestick Point was part of a much larger project that included the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, a Superfund site adjacent to the Candlestick property. In 2010, the City of San Francisco and its redevelopment agency (now the Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure, or OCII) signed a Disposition and Development Agreement with Lennar Urban, the San Francisco arm of homebuilder Lennar Corporation. The DDA was dated June 3, 2010 and recorded that November.

The original plan was ambitious: combine Phase 2 of the Hunters Point Shipyard redevelopment with Candlestick Point into a single massive mixed-use project. The combined plan called for approximately 10,500 homes, a 500,000 to 600,000-square-foot retail mall anchored by Macerich (a major mall operator), a 4,400-seat performance venue, and thousands of jobs. Lennar and Macerich formally announced the retail component in November 2014.

Lennar Creates FivePoint (2009) and Takes It Public (2017)

Lennar had created a subsidiary called Five Point Communities (later Five Point Holdings, LLC) in 2009 to manage several large California master-planned community projects, including the Candlestick/Hunters Point work, the Great Park Neighborhoods in Irvine, and Newhall Ranch in Los Angeles County. FivePoint is headquartered in Irvine, which is the connection to Orange County.

Five Point attempted an IPO in 2015 but pulled it due to poor market conditions. The company went public on May 15, 2017, selling 24.15 million Class A shares at $14.00 per share for gross proceeds of approximately $338 million. Lennar retained roughly a 40 percent stake. FivePoint trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker FPH.

The Hunters Point Fraud Scandal (2018)

The most significant reason Candlestick Point stalled was not the developer, the city, or the financing. It was a federal environmental fraud scandal at the adjacent Hunters Point Shipyard that froze the entire combined project.

The Hunters Point Naval Shipyard was used from the 1940s onward as a site for decontaminating Navy ships that had been exposed to radioactivity during Pacific nuclear weapons tests. The site was heavily contaminated as a result and was designated a federal Superfund site. Beginning in 2006, the U.S. Navy contracted with environmental firm Tetra Tech EC to clean up the site, paying the company more than $250 million over several years.

In 2018, two former Tetra Tech supervisors pleaded guilty in federal court to falsifying radiological cleanup data. Rather than collecting actual soil samples from the areas being tested, workers substituted clean dirt from uncontaminated parts of the site, making the contaminated areas appear safe. The Navy later concluded that roughly 48 percent of Tetra Tech's radiological data was either suspect or showed evidence of potential manipulation. In two specific areas, the EPA found that 90 to 97 percent of soil samples had been potentially compromised or deliberately falsified.

The scandal effectively put the Hunters Point Shipyard redevelopment on hold indefinitely. Because the original Candlestick plan was tied together with Hunters Point as a single project, Candlestick was pulled under with it.

The Retail Mall Was Scrapped (2019)

Adding to the delays, the retail market deteriorated significantly in the mid-2010s as e-commerce accelerated. By 2019, FivePoint suspended its plans for the 500,000-plus-square-foot shopping center. The Macerich partnership was dissolved. The decision to walk away from the mall saved the project from an anchor concept that was already obsolete, but it also reset the development plan from scratch and pushed housing construction back by years.

Decoupled from Hunters Point (November 2024)

For years, the city and FivePoint negotiated over how to move forward when Hunters Point remained contaminated and untouched. In November 2024, San Francisco's Board of Supervisors approved a formal amendment to the project's agreements that officially decoupled Candlestick Point from the Hunters Point Shipyard. Candlestick would move ahead on its own timeline. Hunters Point would remain a separate, unresolved problem.

At the same time, the board approved a new development plan: 7,200 homes at Candlestick Point, with 32 percent designated affordable housing (approximately 2,300 units). The plan also includes roughly 3 million square feet of commercial space, including an innovation district intended to attract office, biotech, and AI tenants, along with retail, restaurants, and a potential hotel. The city's bond financing limit for the project was proposed to increase from $800 million (set in 2010) to $3.3 billion to reflect higher construction costs and the longer development timeline.

What FivePoint Is Building: 7,200 Homes, 100 Acres of Open Space

In June 2026, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a final map for the Candlestick Point project, dividing the 270-acre site into 50 lots, 12 of which will be actively developed. Infrastructure construction started summer 2026. That infrastructure work, estimated at $130 million for Phase 1 with a $20 million federal grant contribution, includes building the roads, sidewalks, utility connections, and stormwater systems that will make the site ready for building construction.

FivePoint Senior Vice President Suheil Totah, who told the San Francisco Chronicle he grew up going to Giants and 49ers games at Candlestick, is leading the development effort. Totah has described the project as "activating a prime piece of San Francisco land that has been underutilized for far too long and putting it to work for the city."

The Development Plan at a Glance

Component	Detail
Total site area	270 acres
Residential units	7,200 homes (32% affordable)
Affordable units	Approximately 2,300 (mix of income levels)
Commercial space	3 million square feet (office, R&D, retail, restaurant, hotel)
Open space	100 acres of parks and public space
Infrastructure start	Summer 2026
First homes (est.)	2030 at the earliest
Full buildout	2040s to 2050s
Developer	FivePoint Holdings, LLC (Irvine, CA)
Bond financing limit	$3.3 billion (proposed, up from $800M in 2010)

The Community That Has Been Waiting the Longest

It would be incomplete to write about Candlestick's redevelopment without acknowledging who lives in the neighborhood around it. The Bayview-Hunters Point community is historically one of San Francisco's most significant Black neighborhoods. When the original 2010 development agreement was signed, it included an extensive community benefits agreement with pledges for affordable housing, jobs, parks, infrastructure, and financial support to prevent displacement.

More than fifteen years later, only about 4.5 percent of the planned housing has been completed, mostly in the form of 337 units at the rebuilt Alice Griffith public housing complex adjacent to the old stadium. FivePoint says it has released $136 million in community benefits funds over the life of the project, though disbursements have paused during the extended delays. The Black population in Bayview-Hunters Point decreased by more than six percent between 2010 and 2022, even as the overall neighborhood population grew. The community is watching the next phase of construction with a mix of cautious hope and hard-earned skepticism.

April 12, 1960 Candlestick Park opens; VP Nixon throws first pitch; Giants vs. Cardinals
1971 San Francisco 49ers begin playing at Candlestick as tenants
August 29, 1966 Beatles play their final ticketed concert at Candlestick (25,000 fans, 11 songs)
October 17, 1989 6.9-magnitude Loma Prieta earthquake strikes 30 minutes before World Series Game 3; stadium holds
September 1995 3Com pays $900K/year for naming rights; park briefly becomes "3Com Park"
November 2, 2004 San Francisco voters pass measure requiring name revert permanently to "Candlestick" after Monster Cable deal expires in 2008
After 1999 season Giants leave for Pacific Bell Park (now Oracle Park)
2009 Lennar creates Five Point Communities to manage large CA master-plan projects
June 3, 2010 DDA signed between OCII and Lennar for Candlestick/Hunters Point combined project
August 2014 Paul McCartney farewell concert; Candlestick's final public event
December 23, 2013 49ers play final game at Candlestick (beat Atlanta 34-24)
September 24, 2015 Stadium demolished
May 15, 2017 FivePoint Holdings goes public on NYSE at $14/share; raises ~$338M; Lennar retains ~40%
2018 Tetra Tech supervisors plead guilty to falsifying Hunters Point radioactive cleanup data; project freezes
2019 Retail mall scrapped; development plan reset
November 2024 SF Board of Supervisors formally decouples Candlestick from Hunters Point; approves 7,200-home plan
June 2026 Board approves final site map; Phase 1 infrastructure construction begins summer 2026
2030+ First homes expected to be ready

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Aug. 7, 2026

City Ventures at 14042 Newport Avenue: 42 Homes with Live/Work Units in Old Town Tustin

By Eric Engelbert

City Ventures Is Building 42 Homes on a Long-Vacant Old Town Site, Including 7 Live/Work Units

The 2-acre site at 14042 Newport Avenue in Tustin sat underutilized for more than a decade. A restaurant once operated there, but by the time City Ventures filed for entitlements the parcel was vacant, overgrown, and contributing nothing to the neighborhood around it. On November 21, 2023, the Tustin City Council approved a Development Agreement allowing City Ventures to build 42 homes there: 35 residential condominiums and 7 live/work units arranged across six buildings in Old Town's Downtown Commercial Core Specific Plan area. It is one of the more distinctive infill projects in Tustin's current pipeline, combining for-sale ownership housing with ground-floor live/work space in a walkable location close to El Camino Real. Track new development across Orange County here.

42Total Homes

35Residential Condos

7Live/Work Units

6Buildings

Nov 2023City Council Approval

More Than a Decade Vacant: The Newport Avenue Site Before City Ventures

The parcel at 14042 Newport Avenue occupies roughly 2 acres within Development Area 6C of Tustin's Downtown Commercial Core Specific Plan. The DCCSP covers the Old Town area bounded by El Camino Real, Newport Avenue, and the surrounding streets that form the historic core of the city. This is the part of Tustin that predates the freeways, the planned communities, and the master-planned developments that defined most of Orange County's postwar growth. The streets are tight, the blocks are short, and the buildings tend toward small-scale retail and mixed use rather than the strip malls and surface parking that dominate elsewhere.

The Newport Avenue site had a restaurant on it at one point. By the time City Ventures identified it as a development opportunity, the restaurant was gone and the parcel had been sitting vacant for well over ten years. Vacant land in a walkable downtown is both a blight and an opportunity: it contributes no tax revenue, no foot traffic, and no housing, but it also means a developer can build new without demolishing an occupied building. City Ventures saw it as a chance to bring ownership housing and active ground-floor uses to a location that had been unproductive for too long.

The November 2023 Approval: What the City Council Agreed To

The Development Agreement approved on November 21, 2023, authorized a 42-unit for-sale condominium and live/work community on the 2-acre Newport Avenue site. The approval package covered the project's entitlements, design standards, and a set of voluntary community benefits that City Ventures agreed to provide in exchange for the Development Agreement.

The project sits within the Downtown Commercial Core Specific Plan's Development Area 6C, which allows mixed residential and commercial uses at densities appropriate for an Old Town infill site. The DCCSP was adopted to guide growth in Tustin's historic downtown in a way that preserves its walkable, small-scale character while allowing new housing to fill in underutilized parcels. A 42-unit project across six buildings on 2 acres fits that framework: it adds meaningful density without overwhelming the surrounding street fabric.

The voluntary community benefits included in the Development Agreement reflect the kinds of contributions cities typically negotiate when approving projects that require a DA rather than standard ministerial permits. City Ventures agreed to three specific obligations, each addressing a different public interest the city wanted satisfied.

Affordable HousingTwo units reserved for very-low income households, deed-restricted to ensure long-term affordability.

Workforce Housing FeeVoluntary in-lieu fee paid into Tustin's Workforce Housing Incentive Program, supporting broader affordability goals citywide.

Public Amenity Space1,392 square feet of publicly accessible amenity space fronting El Camino Real, activating the street edge for residents and passersby.

City Ventures: The Builder That Specializes in Exactly This Kind of Project

City Ventures is an Irvine-based homebuilder that has built its entire identity around one idea: for-sale ownership housing on infill sites in established urban and suburban neighborhoods. They are not a tract builder pushing subdivisions into undeveloped land. They find underutilized parcels in downtowns, transit corridors, and established commercial areas, and they build attached homes that would not look out of place in a city that builds this way routinely.

Their live/work model is a signature product. City Ventures has built live/work communities across California, pairing ground-floor commercial or studio space with residential units above, and marketing the combination to buyers who want to work where they live without the full cost of a commercial lease. Their Eginhouse community in Artesia, which included a similar live/work format, sold out. Their Towns on First project in Upland's downtown opened in February 2025. The Tustin project follows the same template: a walkable downtown location, six buildings, a mix of pure residential and live/work units, and for-sale ownership rather than rental.

City Ventures describes their homes as eco-friendly and smart, integrating energy efficiency features and technology into their standard product. In California's regulatory environment, that positioning matters both for permitting and for buyers who are increasingly conscious of operating costs. For a city like Tustin, which is trying to fill gaps in its downtown with housing that serves the neighborhood rather than just adding density, a builder like City Ventures is a close fit for what the Downtown Commercial Core Specific Plan was designed to attract.

What the Project Delivers: Six Buildings, Two Car Garages, and a Public Street Presence

The 42 homes are organized across six buildings on the 2-acre site, with a mix of residential condominiums and the seven live/work units that distinguish this project from a standard condo development. Every home includes an enclosed two-car garage, an amenity that matters in a downtown location where street parking is limited and secure parking directly affects day-to-day usability. Private open space is provided for each unit as well.

35 Residential Condos For-sale ownership with 2-car enclosed garage and private open space

7 Live/Work Units Ground-floor work or studio space paired with residential above

2 Affordable Units Deed-restricted for very-low income households

17 Guest Parking Spaces Surface spaces for visitors, supplementing resident garages

The 1,392-square-foot public amenity space fronting El Camino Real is one of the more interesting elements of the deal. El Camino Real is the main commercial spine of Old Town Tustin, running through the historic downtown corridor. A publicly accessible amenity space on that frontage is a street-activation benefit that goes beyond what standard residential projects provide. It gives the community a presence on one of Tustin's most pedestrian-oriented streets and contributes something to the neighborhood rather than simply turning its back on it.

Common open space areas and landscaping are integrated throughout the site, consistent with how City Ventures designs their communities to create a sense of internal neighborhood within the building footprint.

What a Live/Work Unit Actually Is, and Who Buys Them

Live/work housing is a specific product type that blurs the line between commercial and residential use. In a typical live/work unit, the ground floor is zoned and designed for business activity: it might function as a studio, a small office, a creative workspace, a photography space, or a consulting practice. The upper floors contain the residential living quarters. The buyer owns both under a single deed and can operate a licensed business out of the ground floor without needing a separate commercial lease.

The format works particularly well in downtown locations where buyers want proximity to their work and the walkability of an urban neighborhood, but cannot or do not want to carry the cost of separate commercial rent. Freelancers, designers, consultants, therapists, architects, personal trainers, and other independent professionals are the natural market. In Tustin's Old Town context, where the surrounding blocks already have a mix of small retail, restaurants, and professional offices, seven live/work units are not out of place. They reinforce the commercial character of the neighborhood while adding ownership housing.

The distinction from a standard condo matters for buyers who qualify. Live/work financing has its own requirements, and buyers who plan to operate a business from the unit need to understand the zoning and HOA rules governing permitted uses. For buyers who want the format, it is genuinely rare in Orange County new construction, which makes the seven units at 14042 Newport Avenue stand out in the current market.

Where the Project Stands and How It Fits Tustin's Broader Housing Push

The Development Agreement was executed following the November 21, 2023 Council approval. City Ventures is an active builder with a California-wide pipeline, and the Tustin project is consistent with the infill urban projects they have been delivering across the state. Given the approval date and City Ventures' typical construction pace, the project is in or approaching its construction and sales phase.

The 14042 Newport Avenue site is part of a wave of new housing that has been moving through Tustin's entitlement and construction pipeline since 2023. Within a few blocks of Old Town, Kingsbarn Capital is replacing the Tustin Financial Plaza on E. 17th Street with 145 for-sale homes under the Cypress Grove project. Burnham-Ward Properties is redeveloping Enderle Center a short distance away into Campo on 17th, adding 100 townhomes alongside remodeled retail. The Irvine Company is building 1,336 apartments at Tustin Legacy. The Jessup by Intracorp, 40 townhomes just off Irvine Boulevard, sold out in 2025. Tustin's housing pipeline, taken together, represents one of the most active development cycles in any Orange County city right now.

The City Ventures project stands out within that group because of its location in the historic downtown core and its live/work component. Most of the other projects are on larger, more suburban sites. A 42-unit project on 2 acres in Old Town, with seven live/work units on El Camino Real, represents a different scale and a different vision for what Tustin's downtown can become. Track this project and others across the county at the OC New Developments page.

Interested in Old Town Tustin or Live/Work Housing in Orange County?

Live/work ownership housing is rare in OC new construction. If you are an independent professional, a creative, or someone who wants to own rather than lease your workspace alongside your home, the City Ventures project at 14042 Newport Avenue is worth watching. We track this project and every other active development in Tustin and across Orange County.

Tustin Real Estate OC New Developments Contact Us

Questions about Tustin real estate? Call or text Eric at 949-430-7500 or visit ocrealestateinc.com.

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Aug. 7, 2026

Tustin Rezoned Two Shopping Centers for Housing in 2025. Here's What That Means.

By Eric Engelbert

In One Council Meeting, Tustin Cleared Two Shopping Centers for Over 1,300 New Homes

On January 7, 2025, the Tustin City Council voted to approve housing overlay districts at two of the city's most established commercial centers: Enderle Center on East 17th Street and The Market Place along Jamboree Road at the I-5. The two rezonings, approved within the same council session, allow up to 413 homes at Enderle Center and up to 900 homes at The Market Place on 18 acres of surface parking. No developer has proposed anything at The Market Place yet. But at Enderle Center, Newport Beach-based Burnham-Ward Properties is already moving. They are acquiring the 60,000-square-foot retail center from the founding Enderle family and plan a mixed-use project called Campo on 17th, with 100 for-sale townhomes and a remodeled retail core anchored by Zov's restaurant. The January 2025 rezoning is what made that deal possible. Track new development projects across Orange County here.

413Max Units — Enderle Center

900Max Units — The Market Place

18Acres Targeted at The Market Place

7Acres Available at Enderle Center

Jan 7, 2025City Council Approval

Why Tustin Had to Rezone These Sites

The January 2025 approvals were not discretionary decisions the city made on its own initiative. They were obligations. Under California law, every city must adopt a Housing Element that demonstrates it can accommodate its share of regional housing production, a number set through the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) process. For the 2021 to 2029 planning cycle, Tustin's RHNA obligation is 6,782 housing units. To meet that obligation, the city's Housing Element must identify specific sites where those units can legally be built. If the existing zoning on a site does not allow housing at sufficient density, the city must rezone it.

Enderle Center and The Market Place were identified in Tustin's certified Housing Element as sites that would be rezoned to allow residential development. Both sites are large, underutilized in part (parking lots, aging retail), and centrally located relative to transit and jobs. Both required full Environmental Impact Reports before the city could proceed. Both EIRs concluded the projects would have significant environmental impacts, but the City Council adopted Statements of Overriding Considerations, a formal finding that the public benefits of meeting the city's housing obligation outweigh the identified impacts. That is not unusual for this type of program-level rezoning.

The rezoning does not guarantee anything will be built. It establishes that housing is legally permitted on these sites and sets a maximum density ceiling. A developer still needs to acquire the land or reach an agreement with the existing owner, design a project, apply for entitlements, and secure financing. But without the rezoning, none of that can happen at all.

Enderle Center: Built in 1977, Rezoned in 2025, Being Redeveloped in 2026

Enderle Center has been a fixture of East 17th Street since 1977. The Enderle family built it and held it for decades, making it one of the few remaining privately owned neighborhood retail centers in central Orange County. At its peak it counted 19 tenants, anchored by restaurants like Zov's, El Torito, and Crab Cooker. By 2025, El Torito had shut down its 13,000-square-foot location and Crab Cooker announced it would close at the end of its lease. The center's assessed value was approximately $15 million, or $95.87 per square foot, as of 2025.

The Housing Element rezoning applied a Housing Overlay (HO) district to Enderle Center's existing Planned Community Commercial Business zoning. The overlay allows up to 413 dwelling units across up to 7 acres of the property, while also preserving up to 205,603 square feet of nonresidential development. The vote on Ordinance 1550, the specific ordinance covering Enderle Center, was contested: the council adopted it on a split vote, with at least one member dissenting. The broader Housing Element Rezone package passed with less controversy.

The city's original Housing Element modeled the site at its maximum of 413 units, but the rezoning does not require that many. It only permits them. That distinction matters, because the actual developer coming in has a very different vision.

Campo on 17th: What Burnham-Ward Is Actually Planning

In May 2026, Newport Beach-based Burnham-Ward Properties announced it was acquiring Enderle Center from the Enderle family and planning a mixed-use redevelopment called Campo on 17th. Burnham-Ward is the developer behind Costa Mesa's South Coast Collection, the Dana Point Harbor revitalization, Paseo 17, and the Long Beach Exchange. Partner Steve Thorp said the project would "provide the city needed housing while preserving retail as the primary use for the property."

The Campo on 17th plan calls for 100 for-sale townhomes alongside 60,000 square feet of remodeled commercial space, a scaled-back residential count that Burnham-Ward requested through a General Plan Amendment to reduce the maximum from 413 to 100. The retail core will remain the primary use of the site. Zov's, the bistro and bakery founded by Chef Zov Karamardian in 1987 and one of Enderle Center's oldest original tenants, will remain and reopen in an expanded, remodeled space. New specialty shops, culinary offerings, boutiques, and fitness and wellness concepts are planned for the updated tenant lineup. A town green, mature specimen trees, water features, fire pits, and reconfigured parking and pedestrian circulation are all part of the vision.

Burnham-Ward aims to start construction before the end of 2026 and complete the project in late 2027. Once complete, they will own and manage the retail components alongside the 100 new townhomes.

The Market Place: 76.9 Acres, 18 Acres of Parking, and 900 Potential Homes

The Market Place is a different scale of opportunity. The shopping center at the intersection of Myford Road, Bryan Avenue, Jamboree Road, and the I-5 spans approximately 76.9 acres on the Tustin side alone and was developed by the Irvine Company starting in 1988. Its distinctive orange, purple, and pink stucco buildings became a visual landmark in East Tustin, and the center has operated continuously since Phase I opened on the Tustin side of Jamboree Road. Phase II on the Irvine side followed in 1996, making The Market Place a cross-jurisdictional retail destination straddling two cities.

The January 2025 rezoning targeted a specific 18-acre portion of the Tustin side of The Market Place: seven parcels consisting primarily of surface parking lots. The Specific Plan Amendment (SPA-2024-0001) to the East Tustin Specific Plan designated those 18 acres exclusively for High Density Residential development of up to 900 units. The General Plan Amendment (GPA-2024-0001) established that high-density residential is permitted within the Planned Community Commercial Business land use designation when authorized by the specific plan.

Enderle Center

7 acres

Up to 413 units allowed. Burnham-Ward acquiring site in 2026 and planning 100 townhomes. Construction before end of 2026.

The Market Place

18 acres

Up to 900 units allowed on surface parking parcels. Irvine Company owns the center. No developer proposal filed as of 2026.

The Irvine Company, which owns and operates The Market Place through its retail division, has not filed any residential development proposal for the rezoned acreage. The 18 acres of surface parking continue to function as parking for the shopping center. The rezoning creates the legal capacity; the timing of any actual project depends entirely on when and whether the Irvine Company or a successor decides to move forward.

What a Housing Overlay Actually Does, and What It Doesn't

The Housing Overlay (HO) district is a planning tool California cities use to satisfy their Housing Element site inventory requirements without completely replacing existing zoning. At Enderle Center, the overlay sits on top of the existing commercial zoning, adding residential as a permitted use rather than eliminating commercial uses. A developer can choose to build housing, mixed-use, or commercial, within the parameters the overlay establishes.

The numbers in the Housing Element are ceilings, not blueprints. The 413 units at Enderle Center and 900 units at The Market Place represent the maximum residential capacity those sites could theoretically accommodate, calculated to help Tustin demonstrate adequate site inventory to the state. They do not represent what will be built. Enderle Center illustrates this precisely: the city planned for 413 units to meet its RHNA math, but the actual developer, Burnham-Ward, is building 100. The rezoning still counted toward Tustin's housing element compliance, and the resulting development still adds housing, but at a scale the existing neighborhood can absorb without demolishing the retail character of the site.

At The Market Place, the 900-unit ceiling is even further from any current reality. No developer has proposed anything, no entitlements have been filed, and the shopping center continues operating as it always has. The rezoning simply ensures that when and if a developer approaches the Irvine Company about the parking lot acreage, the legal pathway for housing already exists.

Tustin's Housing Wave: Where These Rezonings Fit

The Enderle Center and Market Place rezonings are two pieces of a much larger housing effort the city has been building since the early 2020s. Tustin's 6,782-unit RHNA obligation covers the 2021 to 2029 planning cycle, and the city has been moving on multiple fronts simultaneously to show the state it is making progress.

Irvine Company at Tustin Legacy1,336 apartments in Neighborhood D South. City Council approved February 2025. Construction underway. Completion 2029.

Cypress Grove by Kingsbarn145 for-sale homes replacing Tustin Financial Plaza on E. 17th St. Approved December 2025. Construction starting Summer 2026.

Campo on 17th (Enderle Center)100 for-sale townhomes + remodeled retail. Burnham-Ward acquiring in 2026. Construction before end of 2026. Completion late 2027.

The Jessup by Intracorp40 townhomes at 17802 Irvine Blvd. Completed and sold out 2025. Another 40 homes on a formerly commercial site.

Each of these projects represents a different model for how Tustin adds housing: large apartment developments at the Tustin Legacy master-planned community, for-sale homes replacing aging office buildings along 17th Street, and long-term rezoning that positions commercial centers for residential use over the coming decade. The Market Place rezoning is the longest runway of the group, but it covers the largest potential capacity. When the Irvine Company eventually decides to develop its 18 acres of parking along Jamboree, the groundwork is already laid.

Watch for developer filings at The Market Place, any updates from Burnham-Ward on Campo on 17th's construction timeline, and whether any other commercial sites in Tustin's pipeline move toward active entitlements. You can track all Tustin development activity on the OC New Developments page.

Buying or Selling in Tustin? The Market Is Moving Fast.

Tustin has more housing in the pipeline right now than at any point in recent memory, from 1,336 apartments at Tustin Legacy to 100 townhomes replacing a 1970s retail center on 17th Street. If you are tracking the Tustin market as a buyer, seller, or investor, having a clear picture of what is being built and where matters. We can help you navigate it.

Tustin Real Estate OC New Developments Contact Us

Questions about Tustin real estate? Call or text Eric at 949-430-7500 or visit ocrealestateinc.com.

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Aug. 7, 2026

The Jessup by Intracorp: 40 Townhomes That Replaced a Failed Senior Facility Plan in Tustin

By Eric Engelbert

40 Townhomes That Sold Out Before Most People Noticed: The Jessup at 17802 Irvine Blvd

The story of The Jessup starts with a plan that never happened. A Santa Ana company called Positive Investments had been operating two office buildings on a 2.1-acre lot at 17802 Irvine Boulevard in Old Town Tustin for years. At some point before the pandemic, plans were drawn up to redevelop the site into a senior care facility with age-related medical services. Then COVID hit, demand assumptions changed, and the senior facility idea collapsed. Brokers reached out to Vancouver-based Intracorp Homes, which saw something different in the land: a well-located infill site a block from Columbus Tustin Park, close to Old Town, and underutilized by two aging two-story office buildings. Intracorp bought it for $8.3 million in March 2023, tore down the offices, and built 40 California Contemporary townhomes that opened in February 2024 and sold out completely in 2025. See all new development projects across Orange County.

40Homes Built

2,004Max Sq Ft Per Home

$8.3MLand Purchase Price

44,948SF Demolished

Sold OutCompleted 2025

Two Office Buildings, a Failed Senior Facility Plan, and a 2.1-Acre Opportunity

The site at 17802 and 17842 Irvine Boulevard had not been particularly special. Positive Investments, a Santa Ana-based company, operated the 44,948-square-foot office complex there for years. The property sat near the corner of Irvine Boulevard and Prospect Avenue, across the street from Columbus Tustin Park and within a short walk of Old Town Tustin's shops and restaurants. It was productive office land, but not remarkable.

The pivot away from the senior facility plan left the site in play. When brokers brought the opportunity to Brad Perozzi, president of Intracorp Southern California, he saw it clearly. "Brokers reached out to us regarding a residential play, which was a great opportunity for us," he told the Orange County Business Journal in April 2023. Intracorp had been active in the Tustin market before, having previously controlled the Vintage at Old Town Tustin site at Sixth and B Streets before selling that project to Arizona-based Taylor Morrison, which built and sold out 140 homes there.

Intracorp had been pursuing 17802 Irvine for about a year and a half before closing the deal. By the time they took title in March 2023, they had already received their entitlements. The Tustin City Council approved the project on January 17, 2023, requiring a General Plan Amendment and Zone Change to convert the land from commercial office use to residential. A Mitigated Negative Declaration satisfied CEQA requirements, meaning the city determined the project would have no significant environmental impact with mitigation measures in place. Demolition of the office buildings began shortly after close of escrow.

$8.3 Million for 2.1 Acres: How the Deal Came Together

Intracorp's purchase of the Irvine Boulevard site for $8.3 million in March 2023 represented a calculated bet on Tustin's infill market. At roughly $4 million per acre, the land was priced for commercial use but unlocked significantly more value as a residential development site. By obtaining entitlements during escrow rather than after, Intracorp compressed their timeline and reduced their exposure: when they closed, they already had City Council approval and a clear path to construction.

Resmark Companies, a Los Angeles-based real estate finance firm based in Westwood, partnered with Intracorp as the capital partner on the deal. Resmark has been active across Southern California residential projects and has worked with Intracorp on other Southern California developments. Their involvement provided the financial structure that allowed Intracorp to move quickly from land acquisition to demolition to construction without delays from capital formation.

Tustin Mayor Austin Lumbard summed up the city's perspective on the project at the time of approval. "Redevelopment of this site not only provides additional housing to the region, but also activates and enhances the project area," he said. The city's support was not incidental. Tustin needed new housing to meet its Regional Housing Needs Allocation obligations, and a project that required a General Plan Amendment was an opportunity to guide new density toward a site that could handle it.

Intracorp: Vancouver-Based, Orange County-Active, Infill Specialists

Intracorp Homes is a Vancouver-based development company with a track record across North America, focused primarily on for-sale attached housing in infill locations. Their Southern California operation, based in Newport Beach, has been particularly active in Orange County's constrained land market, where their ability to identify underutilized commercial sites and convert them to high-quality for-sale housing gives them a competitive edge that larger tract homebuilders cannot easily replicate.

The Jessup was not Intracorp's first move in Tustin. Before The Jessup, they controlled the development rights at Sixth and B Streets in Old Town, a 140-home project they eventually sold to Taylor Morrison. The Vintage at Old Town Tustin that Taylor Morrison built there is now sold out. The Jessup represents Intracorp staying in the Tustin market but building the project themselves rather than passing the shovel to another builder.

Their Orange County track record extends beyond Tustin. In October 2021, they began construction on Aurum, a 178-unit apartment complex at 2055 Main Street in the Irvine Business Complex. In December 2021, they sold a 290-unit apartment complex in Fullerton for $168 million, which set an Orange County record at $579,310 per unit. The Jessup was a smaller-scale project for Intracorp by unit count, but consistent with their strategy of building quality housing near employment centers and established neighborhoods, at price points that attract buyers who are priced out of resale homes but want new construction quality.

What Intracorp Built: 40 Three-Story Homes with Rooftop Decks and Real Garages

The Jessup's 40 homes are organized as 18 duplexes (36 paired units) and four single-family detached residences, all three stories tall with two-car attached garages. The unit sizes run from 1,965 to 2,004 square feet, placing The Jessup on the larger end of the townhome spectrum for Orange County. Bedrooms come in three- and four-bedroom configurations, with 3.5 bathrooms throughout.

1,965 Minimum SF Three-bedroom plans

2,004 Maximum SF Four-bedroom plans

3 / 4 Bedrooms 3.5 baths throughout

2-Car Attached Garage Every unit

The architecture, designed by Bassenian Lagoni Architects, delivers what Intracorp calls a "California Contemporary" look: clean lines, large windows, and a muted gray color palette that reads as modern without being starkly industrial. Interior design was handled by Jubilee Interiors, with smart home features and sustainable specifications integrated throughout. Land Concern handled the landscape architecture for both the individual units and the community's common areas.

Each home includes a private outdoor space, either a rooftop terrace or an enclosed entry courtyard, depending on the floor plan. The rooftop option is a genuine selling point in a market where outdoor living space is at a premium in attached housing. The community's shared amenities include a central park with seating, barbecue pits, a large outdoor fireplace, and outdoor dining space, along with 10 dedicated guest parking spots supplementing the attached garages.

Who Bought, What They Paid, and the Two Affordable Units

When Intracorp launched The Jessup in spring 2023, Brad Perozzi announced starting prices from the $900,000s. By the time the grand opening was held on February 24, 2024, market pricing had moved upward, with prices reported in the low to mid $1 millions. The project attracted buyers looking for new construction with real square footage, genuine garages, and the walkability that Old Town Tustin provides, without paying detached single-family home prices in a market where comparable resale inventory was thin.

The Jessup also included two affordable units out of the 40 total, a condition of the City Council approval tied to the General Plan Amendment and Zone Change. At a project of this scale and price point, two affordable units is a modest set-aside, but it reflects the reality that even market-rate infill projects in Tustin carry some affordability obligation as part of the entitlement process.

For context, Tustin's broader housing market at the time of The Jessup's sales period was marked by very limited new construction inventory. The nearby Vintage at Old Town Tustin by Taylor Morrison had already sold out. The Jessup offered something rare: new construction townhomes with meaningful size, parking, and outdoor space in an established neighborhood, positioned between the high-density apartment market and the much more expensive detached single-family market in central Orange County.

From Office Demolition to Sold Out: The Full Timeline

Jan 2023Tustin City Council approves the project on January 17, including General Plan Amendment and Zone Change. Mitigated Negative Declaration satisfies CEQA. City contact: Senior Planner Consultant Leila Carver.

Mar 2023Intracorp closes on the 2.1-acre site for $8.3 million. Seller: Positive Investments (Santa Ana). Demolition of the 44,948 SF office complex begins. Construction follows immediately.

Apr 2023Intracorp announces the project publicly. Brad Perozzi, SoCal president, confirms starting prices from the $900,000s and partnership with Resmark Companies. Community name The Jessup revealed.

Feb 24, 2024Grand opening of The Jessup. First homes open for move-in. Sales in progress across three- and four-bedroom floor plans at prices in the low to mid $1 millions.

2025Project completes and sells out. All 40 homes closed. The 2.1-acre site that once held aging office buildings is now a fully occupied residential neighborhood.

The pace from demolition to sold out was under three years. That timeline reflects both the efficiency of working with entitlements already in hand and the strength of demand for well-located, well-sized new construction in central Orange County. You can track similar projects across the county on the OC New Developments page.

Looking to Buy or Sell in Tustin?

The Jessup sold out quickly because the Tustin market has limited new construction supply and steady demand from buyers who want more than an apartment but cannot find detached homes at accessible price points. If you are watching the Tustin market, or any part of Orange County where new inventory is moving fast, we can help you stay ahead of it.

Tustin Real Estate OC New Developments Contact Us

Questions about Tustin real estate? Call or text Eric at 949-430-7500 or visit ocrealestateinc.com.

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Aug. 7, 2026

Irvine Company's 1,336 Apartments at Tustin Legacy: What's Being Built in Neighborhood D South

By Eric Engelbert

OC's Largest Apartment Owner Is Building 1,336 More Units. They Chose Tustin Legacy.

The Irvine Company already owns and operates more apartments in Orange County than any other landlord. They have been building and managing apartment communities across Southern California for decades, with a portfolio that spans from Newport Beach to the inland valleys. When a company with that track record decides to commit $52 million and years of construction to a new site, the choice of location says something. They chose Tustin Legacy, the 1,600-acre planned community built on the former Marine Corps Air Station in central Orange County. The Tustin City Council unanimously approved the project on February 4, 2025. Construction started in early 2026. When it is finished in 2029, Neighborhood D South will have 1,336 new apartments, 334 of them affordable, across six buildings on 19.4 acres. See all new development projects across Orange County.

1,336Total Apartments

334Affordable Units (25%)

$52MTotal Land Payment to City

19.4Acres

2029Full Completion

Tustin Legacy: A Former Air Base Still Being Built Out After 25 Years

To understand why a project like this matters, it helps to understand what Tustin Legacy is and how long it has been in development. The Marine Corps Air Station Tustin operated from 1942 until 1999, when the federal government decommissioned it and transferred the land to the city of Tustin and other agencies. The base covered roughly 1,600 acres in the geographic center of Orange County, bordered by major arterials and adjacent to some of the county's most established residential neighborhoods.

The Tustin Legacy Specific Plan was adopted in 2003, giving the city a framework for converting the former military land into a mixed-use community. The full buildout envisions 4,258 residential units, 1.6 million square feet of commercial space, and more than 90 acres of parks. What makes Tustin Legacy unusual even by California standards is the sheer scale of the planning and the duration of the buildout. More than two decades after the specific plan was adopted, significant portions of the former base are still raw land transitioning between uses.

Neighborhood D South, where the Irvine Company project is located, sits within that transitional zone. The 19.4-acre site is bounded by Warner Avenue, Legacy Road, Tustin Ranch Road, and Compass Avenue, positioning it at the intersection of Legacy's street grid with the broader Tustin circulation network. The city's Development Agreement, Vesting Tentative Tract Map 19353, and Design Review were all bundled into a single approval package, along with a Density Bonus request that enabled the scale of the affordable component.

The Deal: $52 Million and Why the City Agreed

The Irvine Company did not simply buy this land on the open market. The city of Tustin owns significant portions of the former air base and controls their disposition. The transaction required a Disposition and Development Agreement between the city and Tustin Legacy Acquisition LLC, the Irvine Company subsidiary formed for this project.

The financial terms: the Irvine Company agreed to pay $42.1 million for the 19.4-acre development site itself, or approximately $2.7 million per acre. In addition, the company committed nearly $9.6 million toward Tustin Legacy's infrastructure, bringing the total commitment to just under $52 million. A $5 million deposit was paid at the close of escrow. CBRE, brokering for the city, received a 1% commission on the land transaction.

From the city's perspective, the deal accomplishes multiple things at once. It generates $52 million in proceeds and infrastructure investment from a single transaction. It delivers 334 income-restricted apartments, which count directly against Tustin's 6,782-unit RHNA obligation for the 2021 to 2029 cycle. And it brings one of the most experienced apartment operators in Southern California to a site that the city has been trying to activate for over two decades. As Tustin city staff put it in their report to the council, the project will "contribute substantially towards meeting the housing goals identified within the City's Housing Element and Regional Housing Needs Allocation requirements" while providing "housing opportunities for the city and region across a wide variety of income levels."

The Irvine Company: OC's Largest Apartment Owner, Now at Tustin Legacy

The Irvine Company is one of the largest private real estate companies in the United States, with a portfolio that spans office, retail, resort, and residential assets across Southern California and beyond. Their apartment division is particularly dominant in Orange County, where they manage tens of thousands of rental units across a network of planned communities and infill sites. In a county where the rental market is notoriously tight, the Irvine Company's scale gives them an unusual ability to absorb construction risk and execute long-duration projects that smaller developers cannot.

Their approach to apartment development is distinctive. Irvine Company communities typically emphasize walkability, community amenities, and professional property management at scale. The narrow street design specified in the Tustin Legacy project, intended to promote pedestrian activity and limit vehicle speeds within the community, is characteristic of how they design their apartment neighborhoods. They are not building a standard apartment complex. They are building a planned neighborhood with its own internal circulation logic.

The choice to expand into Tustin Legacy makes geographic sense. The site sits at the center of the county, accessible to employment in Irvine, Santa Ana, Anaheim, and the broader employment corridor along the 5 and 55 freeways. For a company that manages apartments at the scale the Irvine Company does, a 1,336-unit project at Tustin Legacy is a natural extension of what they already do in Irvine, Newport Beach, and across the county.

What Gets Built: Six Buildings, Three Blocks, and a Public Park

The project is organized across three blocks, with six apartment buildings ranging from four to five stories each. The buildings are structured around integrated parking garages rather than surface lots, a design approach that allows the ground-level environment to be more pedestrian-friendly. Total parking comes in at 1,956 spaces, which is 368 more than required under California state law.

The unit mix covers a broad range of household sizes:

592 Smallest Unit Square feet (one-bedroom)

1,513 Largest Unit Square feet (three-bedroom)

1 / 2 / 3 Bedroom Options Range across all 1,336 units

A 0.66-acre park sits within the project boundary and is designated as a privately owned publicly accessible space, meaning it is open to the public and not exclusively for residents. That public accessibility is one of the community benefits negotiated through the Development Agreement. The project design also emphasizes narrow internal streets to slow traffic and prioritize pedestrian movement within the community, consistent with how walkable urban apartment neighborhoods are typically planned.

The 334 Affordable Units: Who Qualifies and What It Means

One in four apartments at this project, 334 units, will be set aside for lower-income households. That 25 percent affordability ratio is above what standard density bonus law typically requires and reflects what was negotiated in the Development Agreement as a public benefit in exchange for the density bonus approval.

In California, "lower income" is defined as households earning at or below 80 percent of area median income. In Orange County, that covers a significant portion of working residents: nurses, teachers, tradespeople, county employees, and others whose incomes do not stretch to market-rate rents in a metro where a one-bedroom can easily run $2,500 to $3,500 per month. Income-restricted apartments at Tustin Legacy will be priced based on a formula tied to the income threshold, keeping rents affordable over the long term regardless of where the market moves.

The 334 units also matter for the city's RHNA compliance. Tustin needs 6,782 new units by 2029, with the majority required at moderate and low income levels. A single project delivering 334 lower-income units represents a meaningful contribution toward that obligation, particularly at a time when California is actively monitoring cities' progress and suing those that fall short.

Construction Timeline: What Is Happening and When

Construction started in early 2026 with the first of six parking garages. That sequencing is typical for structured-parking apartment projects: the garages are built first because they establish the footprint and structural framework for the residential buildings that sit above or adjacent to them. Grading and site preparation preceded the garage work.

Feb 2025Tustin City Council unanimously approves entitlements, Development Agreement, and Density Bonus. Disposition and Development Agreement with Tustin Legacy Acquisition LLC (Irvine Company) finalized.

Apr 2025Irvine Company formally completes land acquisition. Total payment to city confirmed at nearly $52 million ($42.1M land + $9.6M infrastructure).

Early 2026Construction begins. Work starts on the first parking garages. Site grading and infrastructure underway across the 19.4-acre site.

Summer 2028Phase 1 expected to complete: community park and cafe open to the public and to residents in the first completed buildings.

Summer 2029Full project completion. All 1,336 apartments across six buildings available, including all 334 affordable units.

The multi-year construction window is standard for a project of this size. Phasing the delivery across multiple buildings allows leasing to begin in completed phases while construction continues on others, which is how the Irvine Company manages large apartment communities throughout their portfolio. Expect pre-leasing announcements and a community website to launch well before the first buildings are ready for occupancy. You can track this project and others across Orange County on the OC New Developments page.

Looking to Rent or Buy Near Tustin Legacy?

The Irvine Company's 1,336-unit project is the largest single residential approval at Tustin Legacy to date, and it is one of several major developments reshaping this part of Orange County. Whether you are looking to rent, buy, or simply understand what is happening in the Tustin market, we can help you navigate it.

Tustin Real Estate OC New Developments Contact Us

Questions about Tustin real estate? Call or text Eric at 949-430-7500 or visit ocrealestateinc.com.

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Aug. 7, 2026

Cypress Grove Tustin: 145 New Homes Replace a 50-Year-Old Office Park on E. 17th Street

By Eric Engelbert

A 50-Year-Old Office Park Is Coming Down. 145 Homes Are Going Up.

The Tustin Financial Plaza at 17782 E. 17th Street has been an office complex since the 1970s. Five buildings. 185,000 square feet. Decades of professional tenants occupying space in a city that has changed dramatically around them. Now all of it is coming down. Kingsbarn Capital & Development won city approval to demolish the entire complex and replace it with Cypress Grove, a 145-home for-sale community with single-family detached homes and townhomes. Construction starts in Summer 2026. It is one of the most direct examples Orange County has seen of obsolete commercial real estate being converted into ownership housing on an infill site, and it is happening in a city that needs far more of exactly this. See all new development projects across Orange County.

145For-Sale Homes

$27.5MLand Purchase Price

185,000SF of Office Demolished

62 + 83SFR + Townhomes

Summer 2026Construction Start

The Tustin Financial Plaza: Five Buildings, Fifty Years, and a Changing Market

The Tustin Financial Plaza was not a single building. It was a campus of five office structures spread across several addresses on E. 17th Street: 17772, 17782, 17822, 17852, and 17862. Built more than 50 years ago, the complex reflected the way Orange County grew in the postwar era, when suburban office parks along major arterials seemed like the logical formula for commercial development. For decades, that formula worked well enough.

What changed was everything around it. The Orange County office market has been under structural pressure since well before the pandemic. Vacancy rates climbed, asking rents flattened, and suburban office campuses without walkable amenities or proximity to transit struggled to compete with newer product in Irvine, Newport Beach, and Costa Mesa. Sagard Real Estate, a Canadian-headquartered investment firm with a global real estate portfolio, held the Tustin Financial Plaza until 2024, when the economics of holding aging suburban office finally pointed toward an exit.

The sale to Kingsbarn in 2024 was a commercial transaction in the conventional sense. From a land use perspective, it was the beginning of the end for a property type that no longer fit what the surrounding neighborhood needed.

The $27.5 Million Acquisition

A joint venture between Kingsbarn Capital & Development and The Kelemen Company purchased the Tustin Financial Plaza from Sagard Real Estate for $27.5 million, or approximately $148.65 per square foot of existing office space, in 2024. That price reflects the building's value as commercial real estate, not as a development site with approved residential entitlements.

The math on an office-to-residential conversion like this starts with the gap between what you paid for the land and what the finished homes will command. Tustin's current median active listing price is approximately $1.2 million, according to Reports on Housing, which tracks Orange County residential data. Spread across 145 homes, that is roughly $174 million in potential revenue at the market median, against a land cost of $27.5 million. The spread has to cover demolition, construction, financing, soft costs, and developer margin, but the direction of the arithmetic is clear. This is why office-to-residential conversions have accelerated across California: the land already exists, the neighborhood infrastructure already exists, and the residential demand clearly exists.

The city of Tustin benefits from this math as well. Officials noted that the proposed residential development is expected to generate approximately eight times more property tax revenue for the city than the office complex currently produces. That additional revenue goes directly into the General Fund, supporting public safety, parks, street maintenance, and other city services.

Who Is Kingsbarn Capital & Development?

Kingsbarn Realty Capital is a Las Vegas-based investment firm with more than $2.7 billion in assets under management and a real estate development pipeline exceeding $2 billion. The company operates across multiple platforms including Delaware Statutory Trusts, private equity, exchange-traded funds, and direct development through its Kingsbarn Capital & Development arm. The firm has acquired more than 325 properties across the United States and operates offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Newport Beach, Long Beach, San Diego, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Dallas, and New York.

On the development side, Kingsbarn has been active in Southern California. Cypress Grove in Tustin is their highest-profile Orange County project to date. They also recently won City Council approval for Terravita, a residential development in Laguna Hills, in June 2026, and have a completed multifamily project in Durango, Colorado called Affinity at Three Springs.

The Kelemen Company, Kingsbarn's joint venture partner on the Tustin acquisition, is a California-based real estate firm with a track record in commercial property and residential development. The partnership structure is a common approach to larger infill projects, where one partner may bring the acquisition capital and the other brings local entitlement expertise and development management.

John Stack, Vice President and Development Manager at Kingsbarn Capital & Development, has been the public face of the Cypress Grove project. "This approval reflects the city's thoughtful approach to enabling housing that aligns with local needs while delivering meaningful community benefits," Stack said at the time of the entitlement announcement.

What Gets Built: 145 Homes Across Two Product Types

Cypress Grove delivers 145 for-sale homes in two formats, giving the community a range that works for different household types and price points.

62 Three-Story Single-Family Detached Farmhouse, Craftsman, and Abstract Traditional architectural styles

83 Three-Story Townhomes Spanish architectural style with attached garage

The mix of detached single-family homes and attached townhomes is deliberate. Townhomes typically enter the market at a lower price point than detached homes on the same site, which expands the range of buyers who can access the community. For a project positioned toward first-time and first-time move-up buyers, having both types in one neighborhood allows buyers to choose based on budget and preference rather than having only one option.

The architectural variety matters too. Four different styles across the detached homes, plus Spanish-inspired townhomes, prevent the visual monotony that gives some new construction neighborhoods a repetitive feel. The site plan incorporates a central park spanning roughly a quarter-acre that anchors the neighborhood, plus more than 46,000 square feet of open park and recreational space and an additional 41,000 square feet of landscaped paseos, courtyards, and pedestrian-oriented open space. That is a substantial open space commitment for an infill site of this size.

Beyond the community itself, the project adds a new off-street bike path along 17th Street and updated traffic circulation at the Prospect Avenue intersection. Both improvements will benefit the surrounding neighborhood, not just Cypress Grove residents.

Who It Is For and What to Expect on Pricing

Kingsbarn has positioned Cypress Grove specifically for first-time homebuyers and first-time move-up buyers. That is a meaningful distinction in a market where most new construction in Orange County targets the upper end of the market. True entry-level new construction is rare in OC, and Tustin's infill location makes this more accessible than greenfield projects further inland or in less-connected parts of the county.

Pricing has not been announced. Kingsbarn did not disclose a target price range at entitlement approval, and construction has not started yet. The current median active listing price for homes in Tustin is approximately $1.2 million, which gives a rough sense of the market Cypress Grove will enter. New construction typically commands a premium over existing resale inventory, particularly for product with modern finishes, energy efficiency features, and new construction warranties. For a community positioned toward first-time buyers, the townhomes are likely to price more competitively than the detached homes.

Sales are expected to launch before or during construction, which is standard practice for for-sale new construction in California. If you are interested in being notified when pricing and floor plans are released, getting on a list early matters in a market where desirable new communities can move quickly.

The Bigger Picture: Tustin's Housing Challenge and What Is Coming

Tustin's state-mandated housing obligation for the 2021 to 2029 cycle is 6,782 new residential units, with approximately 3,900 of those, or 57 percent, required at moderate and low income levels. Like most Orange County cities, Tustin is working to close that gap through a combination of large planned communities at Tustin Legacy, infill conversions like Cypress Grove, and zoning changes that allow housing on commercial land.

The city is moving on multiple fronts at once. The Tustin City Council approved a Housing Element Rezone in January 2025 that rezones portions of Enderle Center and the Tustin Marketplace to allow housing, creating capacity for several hundred additional units on surface parking areas at those commercial centers. A separate 100-unit condominium project called Campo on 17th is also in the planning pipeline. And the city recently selected a developer to redevelop a vacant 52-acre parcel next to the FLIGHT office campus with experiential retail and housing.

Cypress Grove fits within this broader push because it converts a genuinely underperforming asset into something the city and the housing market actually need. A 185,000-square-foot office park built in the 1970s, sitting on land that generates a fraction of the property tax revenue that 145 homes would, is a candidate for conversion in almost any planning environment. The fact that Kingsbarn got it through entitlements in roughly a year after acquiring the site in 2024 suggests Tustin's planning process is moving with more urgency than in prior cycles. You can track this and other new projects across the county on the OC New Developments page.

Interested in New Construction in Tustin?

Cypress Grove is one of the most interesting new for-sale communities coming to Tustin in years. Whether you are a first-time buyer, a move-up buyer, or an investor watching the North OC market, understanding what is coming helps you make a better decision. Reach out and we can talk through your options.

OC New Developments Tustin Real Estate Contact Us

Questions about Tustin real estate? Call or text Eric at 949-430-7500 or visit ocrealestateinc.com.

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Aug. 6, 2026

Orchard View Gardens: 66 Affordable Senior Apartments Now Open at 8300 Valley View Street in Buena Park

By Eric Engelbert

A Decade in the Making. Now 66 Seniors Have a Home.

Orchard View Gardens at 8300 Valley View Street in Buena Park did not happen quickly. The idea of building affordable senior housing on St. Joseph's Episcopal Church property was being discussed before 2016. City Council approval came in November 2020. The groundbreaking was August 2023. Residents finally moved in when the doors opened on March 12, 2025. That is the reality of how affordable housing in California gets built: slowly, through repeated funding applications, zoning changes, partnership agreements, and years of stubborn patience. The result at Valley View Street is 66 affordable apartment homes for low-income seniors in a city where one in four homeless residents is 55 or older. For the people who live there, the wait was worth it. See all new development projects across Orange County.

66Affordable Senior Units

62+Age Requirement

13Units Reserved for Formerly Homeless

1.76Acres

Mar 2025Opened

Church Land. Community Need. A Partnership That Took Years to Build.

St. Joseph's Episcopal Church has occupied its property on Valley View Street since 1957. For most of that time, the land adjacent to the church sat underutilized, which is not unusual for faith communities that own more property than their congregation can fill. What is unusual is what St. Joseph's did with it.

The idea of developing affordable housing on the church's land predates 2016, going back to when Bishop Ed Little was rector. When the Rev. Canon Mary Trainor succeeded him, she advanced the conversation and began formal discussions with National CORE about a potential development partnership. By the time the current rector, the Rev. Cindy Voien, took the helm, the vision was in motion but still years from reality.

Voien described the long process at the March 2025 opening as tending a dream "like a precious seed." There were discouraging periods, including at least one round of state funding applications where the project was narrowly passed over. It was only when a California budget surplus created an opportunity to fund projects that had nearly been selected in prior cycles that the financing came together. The city of Buena Park voted unanimously to approve the project on November 10, 2020, including a zoning change from single-family to multi-family residential. Construction finally began at a groundbreaking on August 15, 2023.

The completed development is the second affordable housing project created through a partnership between National CORE and the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles. Bishop John Harvey Taylor has set a goal of developing affordable housing on at least 25 percent of the diocese's 128 church campuses. Orchard View Gardens is a proof point that it can be done.

How It Was Funded

Orchard View Gardens was financed through five separate public funding sources, a typical structure for affordable housing built under the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program. The confirmed financing stack includes the following.

LIHTC 9%Federal 9% Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, the primary financing tool for affordable apartments in California. Investors purchase the credits in exchange for equity, bridging the gap between construction costs and what affordable rents can support.

City of Buena ParkDirect funding contribution from the city, reflecting local support for the project going back to the unanimous 2020 City Council vote.

OC Community ServicesOrange County Community Services, the county agency that administers housing and social service programs, contributed to the project.

Special Needs Housing ProgramState program that funds housing specifically designated for individuals with special needs, supporting the 13 units reserved for seniors who have experienced homelessness.

OC Housing Finance TrustThe Orange County Housing Finance Trust, a joint powers authority that pools county and city funds for affordable housing, was among the final financing sources.

The multi-layered financing is what makes 9% LIHTC projects so difficult to assemble and why they take so long to get off the ground. Each funding source has its own requirements, timelines, and competitive application processes. Getting all of them aligned on the same project in the same funding cycle requires repeated applications and years of persistence, which is exactly what the St. Joseph's and National CORE partnership experienced before the deal finally came together.

Who Is National CORE?

National CORE, formally National Community Renaissance, is one of the largest nonprofit affordable housing developers in California. Based in Rancho Cucamonga, the organization builds, owns, manages, and provides resident services across a portfolio of communities spread throughout Southern California and beyond. Unlike for-profit developers who balance affordable housing against market-rate work, National CORE is solely focused on affordable housing as its mission.

What sets National CORE apart from many developers is that they do not hand off their communities when construction is done. They serve as owner, developer, general contractor, and property manager on projects like Orchard View Gardens, maintaining long-term involvement in the communities they build. Their affiliated nonprofit, the Hope through Housing Foundation, provides resident services at their properties, including programs designed to help seniors maintain housing stability, stay connected, and age with dignity in their own homes.

National CORE has a specific practice of partnering with faith-based organizations to develop housing on underutilized church land. The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles relationship is one example of this model. It is a practical approach to a real problem: many churches in urban California own land they cannot develop on their own but are reluctant to sell, while developers need sites in established neighborhoods. The partnership unlocks land that might otherwise sit idle for decades.

What Was Built: Units, Layout, and Amenities

The 1.76-acre site holds 66 apartment homes spread across four structures. The primary building is a two- and three-story structure containing 57 of the units, arranged across three floors. Three smaller detached structures, called casitas, provide nine single-story units along the north and east property lines, where the project borders the existing single-family neighborhood. The casita format reduces the visual mass of the project along those edges, a design consideration that reflects the community context.

The unit mix is 62 one-bedroom apartments and four two-bedroom apartments, plus one manager's unit. Units range in size to accommodate seniors living alone or with a spouse or partner. The architecture is California Mission style, which National CORE chose to complement the character of St. Joseph's Church and the surrounding neighborhood.

Amenities at Orchard View Gardens include a 3,000-square-foot community room for events, services, and programs; a computer and technology room; a fitness room; private patios and balconies; outdoor lounge and recreational areas with barbecues; and laundry facilities on each floor. A solar panel system provides energy for heating and cooling. The community is pet-friendly, which matters more than it might sound to seniors for whom a pet may be their primary companion.

Resident services are provided on-site by the Hope through Housing Foundation, the Orange County Health Care Agency's Mental Health and Recovery Services division, and Episcopal Communities & Services. These services include case management, peer support, crisis counseling, and assistance with medical and mental health benefits, all oriented toward helping residents maintain their physical and mental health so they can continue to live independently.

Who Lives There: Income Limits and Special Populations

All 66 homes at Orchard View Gardens are income-restricted and available only to seniors age 62 and older who earn below 60% of the area median income. In Orange County, that income limit covers a significant portion of the senior population, including retirees living on Social Security, seniors who worked in lower-wage service industries throughout their careers, and people whose savings were not sufficient to weather the cost of living in one of the most expensive housing markets in the country.

Thirteen of the 66 homes are specifically reserved for seniors who have experienced homelessness. That designation matters in Orange County, where approximately one in four homeless residents is 55 or older, a proportion that has continued to rise. Senior homelessness in the county is driven by a combination of factors: retirement without adequate savings, fixed incomes that cannot keep pace with rent increases, health events that deplete reserves, and a near-total absence of affordable rental housing at the income levels where seniors actually land. The 13 reserved units at Orchard View Gardens represent a direct intervention for that population, providing stable housing with the on-site services needed to help residents maintain it long-term.

The project's waitlist has filled. By the time of the March 2025 opening, move-ins were already scheduled for all 66 units. That level of immediate occupancy is consistent with every affordable senior project that has opened in Orange County in recent years: demand is not the question. Supply is.

The Opening: What It Meant to the People Who Were There

The March 12, 2025 ribbon cutting brought together an unusually broad coalition for a housing project. All five Buena Park City Council members attended. Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairman Doug Chaffee was present. Mayor Joyce Ahn spoke. Bishop John Harvey Taylor of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles delivered remarks. National CORE's Chief Development Officer Alexa Washburn represented the developer. The sheer number of officials who showed up reflects how long the project had been in the works and how many partners had a stake in its completion.

The Rev. Michael Bell, who helps congregations in the Episcopal Diocese navigate the affordable housing development process, spoke about his own father who had faced potential homelessness late in his life before finding affordable senior housing. "I have to imagine he, in spirit, is really pleased with what we all, you all, have accomplished here," Bell said, "because it will have an impact on people like him and families like ours that we will never meet."

For the Rev. Cindy Voien and the St. Joseph's congregation, the opening represented the fulfillment of something they had been working toward for years without any guarantee it would happen. State funding came through narrowly, after at least one near-miss in prior application rounds. The patience required to keep a vision alive through that kind of uncertainty is not the kind of thing that shows up in a press release, but it is what affordable housing in California actually requires. The fact that 66 seniors now have stable, affordable homes on Valley View Street is the direct result of people at St. Joseph's who refused to let the idea die. You can see other active development projects across Orange County on the OC New Developments page.

Questions About Buena Park Real Estate?

Orchard View Gardens is one of four new housing projects that have recently opened or broken ground in Buena Park, from affordable senior rentals to for-sale townhomes. If you want to understand what is happening in the Buena Park market, or anywhere in North Orange County, we can walk you through it.

New Construction in Buena Park OC New Developments Contact Us

Questions about Buena Park real estate? Call or text Eric at 949-430-7500 or visit ocrealestateinc.com/buena-park.

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