(published in the Orange County Business Journal on March 1, 2021)
Great Park Neighborhoods, which has a trio of active sales communities in Irvine, Rise, Novel Park and Cadence Park, saw a sales boost in 2020.
The 2,100-acre master-planned development came in at No. 31 on this year’s John Burns Real Estate Consulting list with 580 net sales, up 5% from 2019 and 21% from 2018.
“The homebuilding industry has done extremely well, with buyers developing a closer affinity for their home” in the midst of stay-at-home orders, notes FivePoint Holdings LLC Chief Executive Officer Emile Haddad.
Last year, the developer opened the 700-home Rise project. It’s nearing full build-out, with plans to begin sales this month for its 10th and final neighborhood to open at that community, Atlas.
FivePoint entered into a fee-building arrangement with Irvine-based New Home Co. (NYSE: NWHM) for Atlas, marking a first partnership for the developer and the homebuilder, which historically worked with Irvine Co. for fee-building projects.
The 38-unit collection of single-family homes will have prices starting at $1.5 million.
“We are getting ready to launch sales on the project, which we’ve already seen a great deal of interest for,” said Leonard Miller, New Home’s CEO and president.
More fee building could take place at the Great Park Neighborhoods and other FivePoint projects going forward, officials say.
“This program will prove itself, and we expect other opportunities to follow,” Haddad said.
About 6,200 homes, including 720 affordable housing units, have been built at Great Park Neighborhoods, which is entitled for 10,600 homes.
Midyear Sale
FivePoint made its last large reported land sale at Great Park in 2019 when it sold 41 acres to two builders for about $218 million.
“We made a decision to pull back on land sales in 2020 and allow builders space to get through their inventory,” said Haddad, adding that the company plans to launch “another round of sales sometime in the middle of this year.”
The upcoming sale is expected to be for about 800 homes, according to Haddad.
“We want to make sure there isn’t an overlap in what we are currently selling,” said Haddad, who has made diversity of product types a priority at Great Park.
“As we get physically closer to the amphitheater and train station, we will introduce products that are more urban and different than the stand-alone homes we’ve opened.”
This includes a greater focus on lifestyle components through the company’s recently approved 58-acre mixed-use development dubbed FivePoint X.
The new addition is expected to bring some 425,000 square feet of mixed-commercial uses, including a 180-key hotel, plus a variety of food and retail options alongside new homes.
The site will be “Old World” in design: mixed-use buildings with homes and apartments stacked on top of restaurants and boutiques, which will be on pedestrian-friendly streets.
FivePoint X runs near the southern edge of the Great Park Neighborhoods.
Healthcare Focus
The pandemic had reinforced FivePoint’s focus on healthcare and wellness, a cornerstone to the company’s Great Park Neighborhoods.
Tenant improvements are well underway at City of Hope’s new campus at the FivePoint Gateway office complex; the Duarte-based cancer hospital bought a 190,000-square-foot, four-story building there for $108 million in May.
The center, along with a future acute care cancer hospital to be built by City of Hope on the same site, will anchor what FivePoint and City of Hope believe will one day become a regional hub for a larger wellness campus in Irvine.
“We are getting ready to share more information on additional healthcare providers and groups coming to the site,” Haddad said.
“As Irvine grows its population, we are looking to create this holistic campus that reflects what the world will look like over the next generations,” Haddad said.
Outside of OC, FivePoint is gearing up to open its first neighborhood at Valencia, a master-planned community in Los Angeles County.
The first phase will include 1,268 homes with eight different product types.
Great Park Neighborhoods
- Founded: 2013
- Developer: FivePoint Holdings LLC
- Business: 2,100-acre neighborhood on the former El Toro Marine base
- Builders: includes TRI Pointe Homes, Lennar, William Lyon Homes, Richmond American Homes, K. Hovnanian Homes, KB Home, Pulte Homes, New Home Co.
- Entitlements: 10,600 homes
- Notable: developer adding healthcare, commercial uses along more urban-style homes