Innovation Park Office Campus Approved at Sand Canyon and I-5 Freeway

Attendees:
Stephen Huang (Khan)
Christine Knowland (Kuo)
Dustin Nirschl (Fox)
Greg Smith (Shea)
Absent:
Jeff Pierson (Carroll)
On August 1, 2019, the Planning Commission approved the Irvine Company proposal for Innovation Park, a multi-building entrepreneurial style office campus on 35 acres (of 70-acres) on the former Traveland USA site. The office campus will have a start-up business environment for job creation in this section of the city. In 2017 the Irvine Company withdrew their application to the city for a large apartment community on this land.
Irvine Co Office Complex - Traveland site
Access to the project site will be provided via a private road extension of Walnut Avenue where it intersects with Jeffery Road and the 5 Freeway. The private road will continue on along side the 5 Freeway to where it will intersect with Sand Canyon Avenue, the 5 Freeway, and Burt Road. In order to discourage through traffic using the internal private roadway as a pass-through between Walnut Avenue and Sand Canyon Avenue, a number of traffic calming measures will be implemented. Due to concerns about the existence of significant traffic congestion, which often results in cars having to sit through up to 3 signal cycles at the Walnut and Sand Canyon intersections, Commissioner Smith commented that this is a great project in a tough location. A Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA) was completed to analyze the project stating there would not be any significant traffic impacts at intersections and arterial roadway segments for all scenarios analyzed.
The Transportation Commission vetted this project and approved it on July 16, 2019.
Innovation Park Highlights (555,946 square foot office complex):
- 15 buildings (2 or 3 floors per building)
- 1,895 surface parking spaces
- Extensive landscaping – Exceeds the requirements.
- 800 trees to help screen the site. No direct line of sight to the office campus
- Two regional bike trails serve this site to encourage alternate transportation
- Phase 1 construction is estimated to occur in late 2019, phase 2 TBD
Contributors: Susan Sayre & Jeanne Baran
2 Comments
Branda Lin
August 5, 2019 at 8:56 pmThe more jobs we bring to Irvine the more housing we will need. Once all the land is used up, development will start reaching for the sky. When will we start having a meaningful conversation about public transit options? Shouldn’t we be planning for the future and laying the groundwork for transit-oriented infrastructure now? If we are bringing more jobs, we need plans for housing and transit concurrently!
Scott Hansen
August 6, 2019 at 8:57 amTotally agree, Branda. My vision (dream? fantasy?) of Irvine is a more vertical city. Public transit will be so good, accessible, and affordable we won’t need cars.
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