BUSINESS WATCH:

When construction crews break ground on the first mixed-use development on Costa Mesa’s Westside, Eleanor Egan will be watching with hope — and more than a little curiosity.

The planning commissioner and her colleagues voted unanimously last month to approve a proposal by the Santa Ana-based Nexus Development to create a mixed-use parcel on Monrovia Avenue featuring condominiums, commercial space and a number of live/work units. The project, which has yet to break ground, would be the first mixed-use development created under a revitalization plan the city adopted last year.

Egan, a longtime proponent of Westside growth, said she couldn’t say whether the Nexus project would be the first of many to come, but she thought it was at least a promising start.

“I’m hopeful, very hopeful that it may spark a renaissance,” Egan said. “But it’s too early to tell.”

In April 2006, the city designated a group of neighborhoods as mixed-use overlay zones in which developers could fit commercial, industrial and residential properties side-by-side. The project, known as the Westside Urban Plans, came after more than half a decade of citywide discussions on how to give Costa Mesa’s least affluent region a boost. The City Council approved the overlay zones after months of deliberation by the Westside Revitalization Oversight Committee, a group of residents, property owners and business owners.

The Westside Urban Plans comprise about 600 acres within Wilson Street, Harbor Boulevard and the city border on the west, an area dominated by industrial development and multifamily residences. The 6.8-acre site slated for the Nexus project housed Eaton Aerospace, a company that produced cockpit switches and other control parts, until 2005.

Claire Flynn, the city’s principal planner, said she expected the project to break ground in two to three years. Officials from Nexus were not available for comment.

Ed Fawcett, the president of the Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce, has argued in the past for the importance of industrial jobs in Costa Mesa, calling them an essential part of the city’s economy. He said, though, that he was willing to give the overlay projects a chance — at least, until the number sheet could prove how successful they were.

He pointed to mixed-use areas of other cities, including the Grand Central neighborhood in downtown Santa Ana, that had revitalized themselves by packing residential developments in with businesses.

“Will it generate a tenancy that thrives? That’s the question,” Fawcett said. “Ultimately, the market will decide if it’s a good use or not.”

MICHAEL MILLER may be reached at (714) 966-4617 or at [email protected].