New Mile

Despite outcries by neighboring homeowners, the long-awaited Mariner’s Pointe retail and dining complex has been approved by the City of Newport Beach and construction could begin before the end of the year. Residents living on the hilltop above the proposed development at the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Dover Drive in Newport Beach complained that the project could obscure their views, provide unwanted lights and – of course – traffic.

But the City Council, intent on bringing renewal to what is called Mariner’s Mile and to the long-vacant, blighted buildings on the prime corner, wanted to move ahead with the project which some consider the entrance to Mariner's Mile.

Mariner's Pointe, to be developed by Todd Ridgeway – himself a former member of the Newport Beach City Council – will be a two-story complex with a three-story parking structure and will feature a cupola and finial, which will rise 44 feet into the air.
     
Ridgeway said that the project could enter construction this year if he gained approval.