Irvine Co.: No sale for civic center

The Irvine Co. has decided not to sell one of its properties to Newport Beach to build a new city hall, city officials learned Wednesday.

This decision leaves the city with no option but building the civic center at its present Balboa Peninsula site at 3300 Newport Blvd.

City Manger Homer Bludau said that at the June 27 City Council meeting, the building committee may recommend that the council formally recognize the existing City Hall location as the site for the proposed $48-million project package that includes a city hall building, a parking structure and a new fire station.

“I feel that it’s very important for us to go forward,” Mayor Don Webb said. “The morale of the staff is down because of the working conditions. The present site is the best facility that we can get, and I feel it’s time for a new facility.”

In a letter addressed to Webb, Irvine Co.’s Executive Vice President Dan Young wrote that the decision not to sell the property had nothing to do with the discussion of where city hall should be built.

The decision, Young wrote, was based on the company’s “corporate philosophy as a master planner, community builder and real estate investor.”

“We have not been sellers of our commercial properties, nor do we plan to,” Young wrote. “We are proud of our long and constructive relationship with the City of Newport Beach in helping the city solve municipal problems through thoughtful planning and land use. In this case, however, I regret that because we never sell our commercial properties, I must ask that you remove Corporate Plaza West from consideration as a site for a new City Hall.”

The council began considering a new civic center in 2001, but some residents and council members have questioned the location and expense.

At a May council meeting, 22 possible sites were proposed, but most of them were nixed because they were too far from the city’s center, or too costly.

Councilman Ed Selich, one of three council members on the building committee, said the cost for the project may be more than $48 million, a figure estimated last November.

“I expect it will be higher because of an increase in construction cost,” Selich said.

Building the civic center at its present spot has its advantages since the city owns the property and already has a preliminary design.dpt.15-cityhall-CPhotoInfoVR1S08TS20060615izoxs3ncKENT TREPTOW / DAILY PILOT(LA)Corporate Plaza West, 1200 to 1400 Newport Center Drive, is one of two sites Newport Beach was considering for a new city hall, but the Irvine Co. has said the site isn’t for sale.