The Irvine Company becomes a builder again...

irvinehomeowner

Well-known member
It was in today's OC Register but I can't find the online article yet.

Basically they are reviving their Irvine Pacific name and building homes like they did back in the 70s/80s. The Woodbury/WBE Builder Executive plan they did for the 2010 Collection (where they owned the land and just paid builders a fee to build the homes) did so well that they took the next step and are building the homes themselves.

The first area is Stonegate and they will be townhome-style products.

Once I can find the link, I'll post it here.
 
jumpcut said:
With this new forum software my avatar is so big it's starting to scare me.  :eek:

If you save the jpg to your computer then go modify your profile and choose "upload avatar" (instead of the box checked where we can link to a url), and upload the image, it should come out smaller and should be a crisper image. That is how I fixed mine.
 
Thanks for the link jumpcut... I still can't find it using OCReg's search.

The end part is interesting:
"Coastal California is coming back very quickly," Young says. "I think the market is back in a sustainable and growing way."

As evidence of the recovery, Young notes that additions to the company's buyer interest lists for new Irvine homes have not waned as the Woodbury homes sell quickly. He notes these prospective buyers' profiles have now shifted away from primarily Irvine residents to folks from both northern and southern parts of Orange County.

Equally encouraging as this broadening interest, Young notes, is that Woodbury builders have been able to raise home prices ? on average, 6 percent to 7 percent ? as new streets are released up for sale.

That price trend doesn't signal, though, any return to wild-spending habits of the previous real estate boom. "We're still in a phase where people are price conscious," Young says.

And, as for the product to built by the Irvine Co., he says, "We will stay in that zone."
What zone? The still unaffordable zone?
 
I just read the full article and it noted that TIC will be building in Stonegate East.  I thought that they were building the Crean Lutheran High School at that location...
 
http://irvinecompany.com/press-room/press-release.aspx?id=1988

Irvine Company Announces That Irvine Pacific to Build in Stonegate East

4/20/2010

The Irvine Company announced that Irvine Pacific, a wholly-owned affiliate, will build a series of homes in the newest Village of Irvine, Stonegate East, beginning in November.

From the early 1970s to the late 1980s, Irvine Pacific built single-family homes in some of Irvine?s most popular and venerable villages, including Woodbridge, Northwood and Turtle Rock. Irvine Pacific also built apartment communities and served as a property management company.

Since then, the Irvine Company focused on selling homesites to independent homebuilders, but as the builders experienced funding challenges during ?The Great Recession?, the company implemented the Executive Builder Program to meet the pent-up demand for new homes.

The Executive Builder Program, instituted by the Irvine Company last October to allow for the building of ?The 2010 New Home Collection? in the villages of Woodbury and Woodbury East, is credited with providing capital that allowed homebuilders to resume construction activity in Irvine for the first time since the beginning of ?The Great Recession?.

Due to the extraordinary response for new homes in Irvine built through this program, the company decided to have Irvine Pacific become an active builder in Stonegate East.

?Although the ?Great Recession? is behind us, the capital markets have not returned to a level that will allow our homebuilders to attain the funding needed to meet the increasing demand for new homes in Irvine,? said Daniel Young, president of Irvine Company Community Development, who will also serve as president of Irvine Pacific. ?Having Irvine Pacific build these new homes in Stonegate East is a natural progression for us after the enthusiastic response to our Executive Builder Program.?

He also noted that the Irvine Company, a longtime, diversified real estate company, has changed its business model over the years to meet evolving market conditions and consumer preferences. ?From bringing the management of our apartment communities and office properties in-house to the continued growth of our resorts division -- which includes management of The Island Hotel and the Resort at Pelican Hill -- our business model has adapted to the changing business climate,? he explained. ?The decision to have Irvine Pacific build in Stonegate East is a logical extension of that business model.

?We believe the best way to meet the extraordinary market demand we are experiencing is by returning to our long-held practice of selling homesites to our merchant builders, and building homes in-house through Irvine Pacific,? Young said. ?We will continue to work with our homebuilding partners, who have done an extraordinary job for us, allowing them to concentrate on what they do best as they transition back to normalcy.?

In addition to Irvine Pacific, Brookfield, KB Home, Lennar, Standard Pacific, Taylor Morrison, Van Daele and William Lyon Homes and others will continue to build homes within the Villages of Irvine.

The response to ?The 2010 New Home Collection? has been astounding, Young added, with 363 homes sold in just 78 days since the grand opening January 30. That represents the highest number of new home sales in this part of Orange County since the fourth quarter of 2005. The six homebuilders have released multiple phases of homes in their respective neighborhoods, accelerating releases to meet the demand generated by homebuyers, and many are nearly sold out of their available inventory ? which was originally expected to provide a supply of as much as 18 to 24 months of new homes.

The Priority Registration List continues to reflect strong, sustained demand, with more than 1,000 potential homeshoppers pre-approved for mortgage loans. In addition, the general interest list has topped 15,000 and continues to grow.

Additionally, the continued rise in California home prices and home sales, improvement in consumer confidence and homebuilder optimism, low interest rates and new tax credits combined with the strong consumer demand and a limited supply of new homes has created ?an ideal time to include Irvine Pacific as a homebuilder,? Young said.

Irvine Pacific will offer innovative, research-driven homes within the Villages of Irvine, utilizing quantifiable consumer feedback and interaction to create new home solutions with innovation, technology while integrating long-term planning and building expertise.

In addition, Irvine Pacific has the same founding values, experience and capabilities guiding it that have steered one of America?s most successful master planned communities for decades.

?An Irvine Pacific home is more than a home; it represents a ?way of life? that is uniquely attuned to the hopes, dreams, needs and goals of today?s homebuyer in Irvine,? explained Young. ?These homes will be distinctively designed according to research, with a clear understanding of the needs and desires of today?s families.

?One of the key insights we discovered during the research process for ?The 2010 New Home Collection? was that as a long-term owner that prides itself on a long-term outlook and commitment to best-of-class high quality and customer service, we know our customers as well as anybody.

?We are very engrained in the Irvine community through our master planning activities and the unique relationship we have with the consumers who frequent our merchants, the tenants who live in our apartment communities, the employees who work in our office buildings and the residents who live in our homes,? Young explained. ?We can provide a high-quality home that responds to the ever-changing lifestyles, needs and desires of today?s families.?

The Village of Stonegate East represents an opportunity for first-time homebuyers to enjoy the unique lifestyle found in Irvine. Approximately 248 homes in three new neighborhoods will offer a mix of townhomes and flats, duplexes and row townhomes. Pricing is expected to begin in the low $300,000s, and these homes are eligible for FHA financing.

Bluebird Park is a central village gathering place and residents will enjoy easy access to open space and recreation amenities including the Jeffrey Open Space Trail. Stonegate Elementary school, part of the award-winning Irvine Unified School District, is within walking distance, and residents are also within close proximity to Woodbury Town Center and local employment, shopping and entertainment centers.

Grand opening for the Village of Stonegate East is scheduled for November, 2010. Prospective homebuyers interested in the Village of Stonegate East can visit www.VillagesofIrvine.com for more information, or contact a Villages of Irvine New Home Consultant at (888) 820-0721.

 
"The Village of Stonegate East represents an opportunity for first-time homebuyers to enjoy the unique lifestyle found in Irvine. Approximately 248 homes in three new neighborhoods will offer a mix of townhomes and flats, duplexes and row townhomes. Pricing is expected to begin in the low $300,000s, and these homes are eligible for FHA financing."

This is freaking horrible - no detached SFR products. I wonder if they will ever build detached SFRs on 5K sq ft lots any more? If they do they will probably go for over $1M. And probably will still have an outrageous mello-roos and HOA to top it off.
 
It's profit. They make more on the dense townhome/condo projects than the SFRs.

They won't do the SFRs until Stonegate proper (AKA Woodbury 2.0) or Orchard Hills and Laguna Crossings.
 
jumpcut said:
So is Stonegate East east of Sand Canyon and north of Woodbury East?  Because all the monument signs west of Sand Canyon just say "Stonegate."
Yep... no monument signs yet for Stonegate East... and it's just south of the new Crean Lutheran High School.
 
jumpcut said:
and have to deal with 133 noise on the other side.

Yah, the bad thing about WE and SE is, it doesn't matter where you are, the neighborhood is not very wide, so you always hear either Sand Canyon or the 133.  It's never silent, even in the middle of the neighborhood.
 
I have not found noise issue from 133 at all. Primarily because it is significantly low lying
where it crosses WBE. Yes Sand canyon is a major noise source but so is Culver, Jeffrey
jamboree or any other big street. On the trabuco side of WBE the major noise source
is 1 mile away 5 FWY (Because open strawberry fields). Trabuco itself will be immune
for 3-5 years untill significant activity in Great park. I don't know of the irvine blvd side
of WBE as it has an apartment complex there. 
As the entire first row of homes next to sandcanyon gets built (Monterey/ coronado) it will
buffer sound to inside homes. You can already feel significant reduction since early Feb.

Near Stonegate east the 133 comes back up so might be very different.

ajw522 said:
jumpcut said:
and have to deal with 133 noise on the other side.

Yah, the bad thing about WE and SE is, it doesn't matter where you are, the neighborhood is not very wide, so you always hear either Sand Canyon or the 133.  It's never silent, even in the middle of the neighborhood.
 
No, Stonegate East is East of Sand Canyon and Stonegate is West of Sand Canyon (same as Woodbury and Woodbury East).
 
Thanks....Never heard of Stonegate East until I saw the Irvine company press release in April.  I guess Irvine company decided to build the smaller houses at SE.  So Stonegate East is next to the private high school then.
 
new2irvine said:
Yes - Stonegate East is next to the private Lutheran high school.  There's currently no signage for Stonegate East, but that should change soon.  There's a public hearing about putting up signage for the community in the upcoming weeks.

Man, TIC will all their $$$ and wisdom---figure they would come up with a better name than Stonegate East. Yes, I know it matches with Woobury East (don't like that one either) but at least there was a marketing reason to link WB and WBE. Stonegate has no reputation and no houses built yet (except IAC rentals)--why bother with this naming scheme.
 
Good question...thanks to Mr. Star here's your answer.

Patrick Star said:
The launch room is what is more commonly known as a "mud room" outside of California --- a space between garage and living area to leave shoes, coats, etc.

jumpcut said:
cameray said:
Innovation shines in these three two-story duplex designs Capistrano introduces in Stonegate East. Flexible den/ home offices, handy tech spaces, convenient launch rooms and a desirable downstairs bedroom are just a few highlights of these distinctive designs. Plus, residents enjoy a convenient Stonegate East location and walking close amenities.
What the heck is a "launch room?" Maybe there's an on-ramp to the toll road from this unit.
 
Looks like TIC is churning out more "Bag of Chips" homes :'(

So SE becomes the value value village I guess.  More density and more $$$$ for TIC.

Even though we have pissed BKShopr off and scared him away--his wisdom still lives on...

http://www.irvinehousingblog.com/forums/viewthread/5139/#108090

"bkshopr - 06 May 2009 04:48 PM
Buyers are only looking at house by its size and price and immediately do this math price/size.

This is like going to a bookstore buying the thickest book with the cheapest price and disregard the contents.

Developers will fool the consumers by the ?Bag Of Chips? trick so beware.

Here are some BK wisdoms to follow to make you a savvy shopper.

Here are some basic rules pertinent to good planning in classic communities that stood the test of time.

1.  House area should not exceed 40% of lot size.
2.  Front setback should match the house width.
3.  Side yard width should be ? of building height.
4.  Garage width should be 40% or less of house width.
5.  Rear yard should be house height + 50%.

After studying many neighborhoods that have retained high value these are the common traits. Deviations from these rules compromise neighborhood aesthetic, privacy and quality of life.

When these criteria are met occupants are happier with their properties and thus stay much longer in their home.

Other important components I am leaving out are varieties of styles, massing, and texture that most production home neighborhoods severely lack so I don?t bother to elaborate."
 
iacrenter said:
Here are some basic rules pertinent to good planning in classic communities that stood the test of time.

1.  House area should not exceed 40% of lot size.
2.  Front setback should match the house width.
3.  Side yard width should be ? of building height.
4.  Garage width should be 40% or less of house width.
5.  Rear yard should be house height + 50%.


Do houses like that exist in Irvine???  If so, how much would a house like that cost in Irvine?  And if you want a newer house (less than 10yrs old), only place I can think of is Shady Canyon. 
 
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