Uptown Newport project moves its retail spaces
A rendering depicts the Uptown Newport project along Jamboree Road near John Wayne Airport. The development is planned to have about 1,250 residential units, 10,700 square feet of retail space and two 1-acre parks. (Courtesy city of Newport Beach)
By Hillary Davis, LA Times
The developers of the Uptown Newport residential and commercial project are shuffling the location of the retail component.
The main reason for the change is the cost of the parking garage, which is planned to go beneath the building facing the development's entrance along Jamboree Road to support commercial uses, according to a report prepared for Thursday's meeting of the Newport Beach Planning Commission. A third subterranean parking level would "jeopardize project finances," developer Shopoff Realty Investments told the city.
The commission approved the move, which will break up 10,700 square feet of retail space from its original placement along the Jamboree frontage to pockets along the westerly and central parts of the complex, largely in the interior of the development. The space that would have housed commercial suites will be filled by seven additional apartments.
The commercial space will still be developed during the first phase of construction, which is underway.
Uptown Newport is planned to have about 1,250 residential units — including 92 designated as affordable housing — plus shop space and two 1-acre parks. The Newport Beach City Council approved the project in 2013.
The site is in an industrial part of town near John Wayne Airport. Irvine-based Shopoff plans to transform Uptown Newport's 25 acres into a livelier, denser urban district.
The second phase of building is scheduled to begin in 2022 or 2027, depending on when current tenant Jazz Semiconductor ends its lease.