Condos proposed for 1901 Newport

Lolita Harper

COSTA MESA -- The new owners of the long-empty building at 1901

Newport Blvd. are looking for condominiums to be the final element needed

to lift the downtown landmark from its past decade of failure.

Hudson Properties LLC, which owns the large Spanish-style building,

sent Property Manager Terry Tornek to ask the City Council to consider

plans to add 146 owner-occupied condominiums to the 7.71-acre property.

The council unanimously agreed to take a tentative look at the

property. To approve the project, council members would have to amend the

city’s general plan. Only four amendments are allowed per year.

The proposed condominium community would have only owner-occupied

units and sit on its own underground parking structure. According to

staff reports, the homes would be built in what is now a parking area and

would therefore require an additional parking structure on the property.

The existing large building, which has become a sort of landmark in

the heart of the city’s downtown, sits on the corner of 19th Street and

Newport Boulevard. Formerly known as Federal Pacific Savings Plaza, the

building sat empty for nearly a decade until catering company Turnip Rose

announced in March it was leasing space from the new owners. Since then,

a handful of tenants have trickled in.

Councilwoman Linda Dixon said she was excited about the proposition of

a project with mixed land use of commercial, retail and residential. She

said new homes would also help the city’s jobs and housing imbalance.

These projects “are really the way of the future. The site would serve

as a wonderful entry to the Westside,” Dixon said.

The existing building boasts 130,913 square feet of leasable space and

such unusual features as teak doors and windows, windows of multi-paned

beveled glass, carved stone around the exterior of the property and

several fountains and trees.

But the site has so much more potential, Tornek said.

“We are asking for approval to begin the process to bring the full use

of this site to fruition,” Tornek said.

Resident Tom Egan spoke in favor of the project, saying homes in the

downtown area would provide the final element of a successful downtown

area.

“I like the idea, and it might even be able to bail out Triangle

Square,” Egan said. “We need people who live close to the center [to shop

there],” Tom Egan said.

Mayor Libby Cowan expressed her willingness to examine the proposal

but cautioned Tornek to consider the neighboring church.

“That church is a real landmark and one of our treasures. I urge you

to work closely with them and throughout the process,” Cowan said.

The Rev. Mike Bankhead said possible building on the site is a

double-edged sword. In one sense, the new homes could serve as a place to

expand the church’s membership, but parking is always a consideration, he

said.

The owners of 1901 Newport Blvd. have generously allowed the church to

use the facility’s parking area for outreach programs, Bankhead added,

and he hopes the relationship would continue if the development were

approved.

“Our concern is that we could continue to have their support of our

operations. Not to the detriment of them, but so we can continue to grow

and have our ministry,” Bankhead said.

According to staff reports, general plan amendments have been asked

for this property twice before. The first proposal, submitted in April

1998, called for a three-story, 387-room hotel but was withdrawn because

of economic conditions.

Officials of Hudson Properties bought the plaza March 30. In August

2001, the council denied its proposal to build a 178-unit apartment

building on the site.

* Lolita Harper covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at o7 [email protected]