Planning Commission Greenlights Behemoth Warehouse Complex Adjacent to Apartments in the Irvine Business Complex

  • December 13, 2024, 8:16 pm America/Los_Angeles

On November 21, 2024, the City of Irvine Planning Commission voted to approve a 540,000 square foot warehouse complex that will be located on the northeast corner of Von Karman and Alton and extend almost to Barranca Parkway in the Irvine Business Complex (IBC). The project site is approximately 26 acres and will demolish existing buildings and parking lots to build this behemoth warehouse development. 

The issue of where to locate warehouses in Irvine is not new. At an April 2023 City Council meeting, the council voted against an ordinance that would have ensured that warehouses would not expand into new areas in Irvine, would have given the city discretion based on factors such as square footage, location, and business activity, and would have reviewed land use for health, safety, and welfare concerns.  

Opponents of the massive warehouse complex argue that the city is missing an opportunity to create a vibrant, mixed-use development where people who live in the nearby apartment communities could find shopping, dining, and other amenities within close proximity to home. Traffic along Alton and nearby Jamboree is already challenging during the day, so creating opportunities for people to leave their homes to walk, bicycle, skateboard or scoot to nearby stores and restaurants could help alleviate the traffic congestion and related noise that already exist in the area without the new mega warehouse. 

Councilmember Kathleen Treseder, who was elected at-large for her current term but lives in  Council District 6 which includes the area where the warehouse complex is proposed, was one of the council members who voted in favor of the ordinance to limit the expansion of warehouses in Irvine in 2023. Treseder issued the following statement to Irvine Watchdog when asked about the recent Planning Commission vote in late November, “My vision for the Irvine Business Complex is one of a vibrant, mixed-use, walkable neighborhood where commercial and residential spaces coexist harmoniously. Warehouses are fundamentally incompatible with this vision.” 

“Excessive warehouse development has been shown to create environmental health hazards through emissions, while also generating traffic and unsafe conditions for pedestrians. To preserve the health and safety of our residents, I supported a warehouse ordinance in 2023 that would have required additional review to ensure any new warehouses would be compatible with existing land uses and would have granted the City Council authority to prevent harmful warehouse developments,” Treseder added. 

While warehouses are a critical component of modern e-commerce, the location of warehouses has been controversial. A recent study from the Milken Institute of Public Health at George Washington University shows that people living in communities located next to large warehouses are exposed to 20% more of traffic-related air pollutants that can lead to asthma and other health conditions. That same study showed that the proportion of Latino and Asian people living close to the largest clusters of warehouses is about 250% higher than the average nationwide. 

Asians are the largest non-white ethnic group in Irvine, and the areas around Von Karman and Alton have significant Asian communities. Communities of color have been disproportionately impacted by polluted air with higher incidences of ailments such as pediatric asthma and other pollution related illnesses. Historically, industrial pollution is located disproportionately where lower income and communities of color are living. The CalEnviroScreen 4.0 tool from the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment shows that the census tract where the proposed warehouse complex will be located is in the 64th percentile. 

The proposed warehouse would increase large truck traffic to this neighborhood even though there are railroad tracks nearby to facilitate the transportation of goods to the IBC. The project does not indicate that the tracks would be utilized. Trucks could be coming in and out of the warehouse complex at all hours of the day. 

Warehouse jobs tend to be transitory and lower paying, so the kind of employees who would be coming to work in the warehouse complex would likely be earning on the lower end of the wage scale. Data from ZipRecruiter shows that the average warehouse wage in Irvine is $19/hr. To comfortably rent an apartment in Irvine, a worker would need to earn approximately $116,000 per year. Unless the warehouse workers are cramming into nearby apartments, the potential employees of this massive warehouse complex will probably be part of the workforce that commutes into Irvine every day for their shift.

Irvine Watchdog reached out to Patrick Strader, who represents the developer of this massive warehouse complex. Strader offered some context, arguing that this project is a community benefit because there’s a pent-up need for warehouse space in Irvine. 

In a written statement, Strader stated, “The project is allowed by-right. Every neighbor who complained about the use signed a disclosure form when they purchased their condos which clearly disclosed this use. Also, everyone knows that there have been and will continue to be all types of uses in the IBC such as industrial and people who choose to live there should not be surprised when allowable uses occur.”

Note: The author of this piece provided public comment encouraging the Planning Commission to reject this warehouse development and instead focus on approving and encouraging mixed use development that would lessen car dependency in this part of the city. 

Photos: 

The Broadstone Edition apartment complex is located on the Northwest corner of Alton and Von Karman. This complex would be directly across the street from the large warehouse development that is being planned.

The sidewalk along Von Karman with a largely empty parking lot that would likely be torn out for the massive warehouse complex. 

  This is the sign and building that people currently see on the northeast corner of Alton and Von Karman. 

 

This is a Google map view of the Alton and Von Karman area to show the apartment buildings and other businesses around where the proposed warehouse complex would be located.