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.
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.
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
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.
