City leaders ponder future of developmental center

Costa Mesa City Council members and planning commissioners discussed their visions Tuesday for the future of the state-owned Fairview Developmental Center, which could close by 2021 under a bill making its way through the state Assembly.

Though what will replace the center on the 114-acre property hasn’t been finalized or announced, officials’ opinions varied on what they feel should be built there.

City staff theorized that the land could house a large corporate headquarters, sports fields or as many as 1,000 housing units.

Councilwomen Sandy Genis and Katrina Foley said the land should remain passive open space and remain used for public purposes.

Genis suggested supportive housing while Foley said it could contain veterans units or transitional housing for homeless.

Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer said 25% of the property could be maintained for open space and parks, and the remaining could have between 500 and 550 homes.

If what remains of Fairview turns into residential housing, it wouldn’t be the first time. City staff noted that in 1985, 54 acres of Fairview’s surplus land was permitted for high-density housing. Most of that land became the Harbor Village apartment complex, which has about 550 units.

In 2004 and 2006, other parcels were converted to allow for homes.

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LA Times building owners seek zoning change

Representatives hoping for a zoning change for the Los Angeles Times’ former printing plant in Costa Mesa also took their case to city officials Tuesday.

Tribune Real Estate Holdings, a Los Angeles-firm, wishes to rezone the plant, at 1375 Sunflower Ave., and an adjacent parcel off Harbor Boulevard from industrial to commercial in order to build a large mixed-use commercial property.

Tribune Real Estate is a separate company from Chicago-based Tribune Publishing, which owns the Daily Pilot and its parent company, the Los Angeles Times.

The Sunflower and Harbor properties total about 25 acres, making the area one of the largest to-be-developed parcels in Costa Mesa.

Jeffrey Dritley, founder and managing partner of Kearny Real Estate Co. in Los Angeles, said his company is about to sign a joint venture with Tribune to develop the properties.

“There’s no better example for an asset that’s prime for revitalization,” he said.

Carl Cade, an asset manager with Tribune Real Estate, said the plant was once a major job center.

“We think it can be a job center again,” he told city officials, saying the property could be a “dynamic, mixed-use” center that doesn’t create too much traffic.

The plant, which opened in 1968, once housed more than 1,000 editorial, advertising and press personnel, with space to store about 30,000 tons of newsprint.

The Times’ Orange County staff was based in the plant from 1968 to October. The Pilot was headquartered there from 2004 to October, when it moved to Fountain Valley alongside Times staff members.