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ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS the VILLAGES of SOUTH COAST 1683 SUNFLOWER AVENUE SOUTH COAST METRO DISTRICT COSTA MESA CA HOME RANCH LA TIMES BUILDING VANS PREPARED BY ROSE EQUITIES SEPTEMBER 8, 2015 1 SANTA ANA RIVER TRAIL ROSE EQUITIES September 8, 2015 The Honorable Stephen Mensinger City of Costa Mesa 77 Fair Drive Costa Mesa, California 92626 Mayor Mensinger, As you know, the ownership of the LA Times site, located at 1375 Sunflower Avenue, has requested to be included in the current general plan update process. Similarly, for over two years, we have been exploring the various opportunities to appropriately reposition the Robinson Pharma site (1683 Sunflower Avenue) located next to SOCO, one of the most authentic and thriving retail centers in all of Orange County. In fact, the western portion of South Coast Metro is made up of several sites that offer up great opportunity and potential for the City of Costa Mesa to maintain the quality of life it currently affords its citizens and to insure it will also do so for future Costa Mesa generations. We recognize the City is in the middle of its general plan update process and the potential inclusion of projects such as the LA Times and ours could cause delays and additional cost for same. As such, assuming the LA Times is allowed to enter the process, we also ask for similar inclusion. With this letter, we respectfully request that this process consider the redesignation of the Robinson Pharma site for a live-work-play village comprised of a variety of uses. We acknowledge, if the LA Times request is denied, we will respectfully withdraw ours as well. With this in mind, please consider the following thoughts as it relates to the repositioning of the Robinson Pharma site, which we are calling ‘the Villages of South Coast,’ as part of the revitalization and repositioning of the western portion of South Coast Metro. We have been closely monitoring the general plan update and subsequent planning designations for many of the properties north of the I-405. Including the LA Times site, the following properties have been discussed for development or repositioning: 1. VANS – Vans recently purchased the property located at 3333 Hyland Avenue, which will include several hundred employees and potentially redevelopment of the parking lot bordering Hyland. This property is also immediately adjacent to SOCO, opposite the Robinson Pharma site. 2. Emulex – 65,435 square feet of office have already been approved at the corner of Sunflower and Susan. This site is currently for sale and as a part of the sales procedure, the repositioning of the property, including the build out of the vacant land, has been encouraged. 3. The corner of Sunflower and Harbor – Designated as the ‘Business Park Overlay’ in the general plan update draft recommended land uses, there is a suggestion for this intersection to be up-zoned from 0.25-0.75 FAR to 1.0 FAR. 8383 Wilshire Boulevard Suite 632 • Beverly Hills, California 90211 • 323.782.4300 2 4. Home Ranch – Currently approved for 759,165 square feet of commercial; there is a recommendation to increase this site to 1,200,000 square feet. 5. LA Times – Proposal for 1.0 FAR of ‘Urban Center Commercial’ use, or approximately 914,760 square feet of development. These properties are an integral part of the west side of South Coast Metro. With the future development of these sites, in addition to the projects already in place, this area of the South Coast Metro District possesses great potential to become a vibrant, mixed-use, walkable and bikeable district, unlike any other economic node in all of Orange County. A global question is what can and should be done from a planning perspective to insure the long-term success of the current and future planned developments? Some of the most memorable and desirable land use districts (for office, retail and residents alike) around the world are those that appropriately mix jobs, retail and residential in a walkable/bike friendly plan. In today’s hyper-competitive world of Orange County, the idea of a well-executed live- work-play environment puts both private and public institutions which participate in these settings in an extremely viable position to excel. Our goal for our site is to build on the strengths of the uses already in place and planned. This includes its unique location next to the Santa Ana River Trail, which is 4 miles to the beach, 1.5 miles to Fairview Park and 6 miles to Anaheim Stadium via bike. To this end, we are embracing the emerging bike culture of Costa Mesa (and Orange County) like no other area to date. The result is the creation of a functionally and visibility-stimulating area along the I-405 freeway, an environment that will be on display for the entire county to marvel and recognize as the gateway to the City of Costa Mesa. If these properties north of the I-405 are to be developed and draw from the vibrant companies in today’s 21stcentury economy, one of the first questions these corporate leaders will ask is “whether these sites offer up to their employees an environment which affords a high quality of life relative to how they live-work-play?” Large users of space, for instance in a campus setting, will no longer accept sites which are deficient in any one of the elements of live, work or play. We all know the development pattern of the 20th Century, in particular within Orange County, lead to areas of extensive suburban sprawl, where people have to travel the freeway to get to their jobs. Similarly, there are many employment centers where there is a glaring lack of housing options. The answer for both the future corporate leaders of Costa Mesa and the City includes solutions which keep people off the freeway by embracing the definitions of an appropriate job-housing balance in a mixed- use district where employees and the people of the City can live, work and play in a quality environment. From this perspective, it makes for common sense for the City to take a hard look at the above mentioned sites and other properties north of the I-405 appropriate for repositioning. Costa Mesa is known for both its alternative and eclectic residential neighborhoods and retail (SOCO, the CAMP, the LAB) in addition to the economic firepower of the South Coast Metro District. By taking a comprehensive look to these properties north of the I-405, the City can appropriately plan for its 8383 Wilshire Boulevard Suite 632 • Beverly Hills, California 90211 • 323.782.4300 3 4 5 6 the Villages of South Coast Prepared remarks, to be submitted at September 8, 2015 Joint Study Session Honorable Mayor Mensinger, council, and planning commission, my name is Leonard Glickman, managing partner of Rose Equities. I am here to speak on behalf of the site located at 1683 Sunflower Avenue, referenced in the agenda as the Robinson Pharma site. As you know, this site is located next to SOCO, one of the most authentic and thriving retail centers in all of Orange County. It is also adjacent to the Santa Ana River Trail, a key component to the emerging bike culture of the city and a variety of other employment generating uses. It is area known as the western portion of the South Coast Metro District. These three building blocks, located in a little pocket of northwest Costa Mesa, carry with it the framework to create a dynamic and vibrant mixed-use district…..the type that is the envy for private and public citizens alike as we move deeper into the 21st Century. For this reason, we think there are significant advantages to taking a comprehensive look at this area, which includes sites like the aforementioned LA Times, VANS, Emulex and others. And of course, the Robinson Pharma site is right in the middle of it. We believe by looking at this area comprehensively, the result would be the creation of a functionally and visibility-stimulating area along the I-405 freeway…..an environment that will be on display for the entire county to marvel and recognize as the gateway to the City of Costa Mesa. Imagine driving south on the I-405, crossing over the bikers riding along the Santa Ana River, and coming to three shining beacons of Costa Mesa’s Gateway as one looks to their left… ROSE EQUITIES September 8, 2015 7 the Villages of South Coast First, you would come upon the live-work-play, walkable, bikeable village we imagine for our site, one we are calling the Villages of South Coast… Second, you see the eclectic retail star that is SOCO. And third, you would come to the headquarters of VANS, the corporate embodiment of Costa Mesa’s own alternative economic heartbeat. Now imagine looking right and seeing the edge of one of Costa Mesa’s cherished neighborhoods, Mesa Verde. Imagine living in this neighborhood, riding your bike up through the Santa Ana River Trail and enjoying your purchases from the SOCO farmers market while sitting in the new park we aim to include in our village. This is the best part…by looking at the opportunity offered by western portion of the South Coast Metro District to provide a strong and sustainable economic foundation for the City’s future…. It does so by maintaining the integrity of traditional Westside and Eastside Costa Mesa neighborhoods that are so cherished by the City’s citizens. As it relates to the LA Times, we understand ownership has asked for inclusion in the general plan process and associated EIR.