Along the Coast
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April 30, 2008Newport Beach City Hall to MoveWith the approval of Measure B during the recent election, the Newport Beach City Hall will be relocated from its current aging and crowded buildings in the Lido Village area to a gleaming new facility to be erected in land once reserved for a park adjacent to the Newport Beach Central Library between MacArthur Boulevard and Avocado Street. The City is currently assembling a committee of architects to select an architect for the city hall complex, which will occupy a portion of the site originally set aside as a park. The controversial Measure B was opposed by residents who felt that the land should be developed as a passive park, but was backed by residents who felt that the city-owned site was a natural. Read more » Posted on Wednesday, April 30, 2008 in Along the Coast Blog | Permalink | Comments |
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March 28, 2008Wachovia Bank in Corona del MarWhat is that unusual ultra-modern building currently under construction on East Pacific Coast Highway at Orchid Street in Corona del Mar? The long-empty site, formerly a service station and once slated for a quick-service lube shop objected to by neighbors, will house a branch of Wachovia Bank on the ground floor with office space above.Charlotte, North Carolina-based Wachovia Bank, a newcomer to Orange County, has spurted with branches all over the Orange County coast, and the Corona del Mar branch will open in June. Read more » Posted on Friday, March 28, 2008 in Along the Coast Blog | Permalink | Comments |
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March 19, 2008A Mind-Blowing Development at South Coast MetroAlthough I am in the South Coast Metro area of Costa Mesa frequently – to go to South Coast Plaza, the Orange County Performing ArtsCenter, South Coast Repertory and the restaurants and cinema in South Coast Village – I must admit that until recently I had missed a new development that frankly blew me away.Only a long block east of the Performing ArtsCenter, on a huge chunk of what was Sakioka family farmland bounded by Sunflower Avenue, Sakioka Drive and the arc-shaped Anton Boulevard, is a brand new complex of 46 – yes, 46 – three-story, earth-toned apartment buildings. This is The Irvine Company’s just opened The Enclave at South Coast, an 890-unit apartment home community designed in “classic Italian style.” The one-and-two-bedroom apartments, offering no less than 20... Read more » Posted on Wednesday, March 19, 2008 in Along the Coast Blog | Permalink | Comments |
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February 29, 2008Sober Living Homes in BalboaSome years ago, as existing Irvine Ranch residents strongly opposed any new residential development near them, The Irvine Company conducted a survey to determine if there were any types of new residents the existing residents would tolerate. Top of the list of desirable neighbors was “an older couple with no children.” Next on the list was “a young couple with small children.” Last on the list was “a family with teenagers.” But no one surveyed volunteered that they wanted a neighboring home to house recovering drug or alcohol addicts.Yet, over the past years, at least 76 “sober living homes” housing recovering drug and/or alcohol addicts have cropped up along the Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach. The rental homes house up to six residents who are in 90-day... Read more » Posted on Friday, February 29, 2008 in Along the Coast Blog | Permalink | Comments |
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February 18, 2008New Jaguar Dealer in Newport BeachMy Newport Beach daughter once unhappily drove to Santa Ana to acquire her new Jaguar, but now those days are over. Land Rover Newport Beach on Jamboree Road just west of San Joaquin Hills Road in Newport Center has become a Jaguar, Aston Martin and Land Rover dealer.There was a time when Orange County coastal residents could purchase or lease a new Jaguar at Newport Imports on Pacific Coast Highway in Newport Beach, but that dealership closed in 1994.Realizing that the Orange County coast is one of the nation’s strongest markets for Jaguars and Aston Martins, England’s Pendragon North America – which acquired Bauer Jaguar in Santa Ana in 2000 – has just enlarged its Land Rover Newport Beach showroom, acquired in 2003, to bring the luxury automobiles to the coast. Derbyshire,... Read more » Posted on Monday, February 18, 2008 in Along the Coast Blog | Permalink | Comments |
Real estate guru Martin Brower keeps you up to date
on development and related issues happening along the Orange County coast.
