Costa Mesa commission approves office development for former L.A. Times site

Plans to remake the former Los Angeles Times newsroom and printing plant into a “creative office” campus with hundreds of thousands of square feet of building space won approval Monday night from the Costa Mesa Planning Commission.

On a 3-0 vote, with Chairman Stephan Andranian and member Jeffrey Harlan absent, the commission adopted a preliminary master plan to develop the campus on 23.4 acres east of Harbor Boulevard and west of Susan Street, between South Coast Drive and Sunflower Avenue.

The decision is final unless appealed to the City Council within seven days.

The plan outlines a three-phase development of up to 655,000 square feet of office space on the property, which is currently occupied by the former Times facility, offices, a helipad and a baseball field.

“It has kind of an innovation feel, an incubator-type feel where we have all sorts of opportunities now to draw in new businesses and new employees that are going to shop, dine in Costa Mesa and maybe even live in Costa Mesa,” Commission Vice Chairman Byron de Arakal said of the project. “It’s, to me, so unique. I’m just thrilled to death with how it came out.”

The project is a joint venture between Kearny Real Estate Co. and Tribune Real Estate Holdings, a subsidiary of former Times owner Tribune Media. The two jointly own the plant and property.

The first phase, called The Press, would take up about 14 acres of the overall site and entails repurposing the former Times building to create 339,063 square feet of office space.

That building has been vacant since the staff of the Times and Daily Pilot — which have the same parent company, tronc — moved out in October 2014.

Plans show The Press would feature a series of tiered mezzanine levels and be decorated with images of printing presses as a nod to the property’s history.

Hoonie Kang, a partner with Kearny, said Monday’s approval is a step toward “transforming what’s been a shuttered property for a long time.”

“We’re very excited to be revitalizing this property and bringing back jobs, hopefully high-paying jobs, that will be very beneficial for the city,” he added.

Commissioner Isabell Kerins said the project represents “a beautiful job with taking the bones of the structure and reimagining a very innovative, creative space, which is what I think Costa Mesa is all about.”

The Press also would include a three-level parking structure with 1,277 spaces, 87 additional surface parking spaces and a roughly 3-acre outdoor space with covered patios and amenities such as an amphitheater and sports courts.

A public, lighted multipurpose trail connecting South Coast Drive and Sunflower Avenue is to be constructed on the east side of the property.

Kang said the hope is to have the building ready for tenants in mid-2019.

Under the preliminary master plan, the second and third phases of the overall development would entail building two five-story office buildings with accompanying four-level parking structures.

Those plans could change, Kang said, depending on how the market looks after The Press is finished.

“We would look to either continue with the office campus idea, or the zoning also allows for ancillary retail or other commercial uses,” he said.

Some residents Monday questioned whether the project could run into issues under Measure Y — a growth-control initiative requiring public approval for development projects that necessitate a general plan amendment or zoning change and that meet certain additional criteria.

The City Council officially rezoned the project site in November. That “was a follow-up action for consistency with the general plan, [so] it is not subject to Measure Y,” according to a city report.

Residents, though, pointed out that the measure stipulates it applies to projects approved “on or after the date of publication of the notice of intention to circulate the initiative petition,” which was July 17, 2015. That retroactive clause is the subject of an ongoing lawsuit involving a different development.

“I find it interesting that the city noted that it would not be affected by Measure Y before the court has even made a ruling,” resident Jay Humphrey said.

Resident Rick Huffman praised the look of The Press but said “it ought to be subject to voter approval.”

“You’re really bucking public opinion on this project if you don’t pay attention to what the people voted for,” he said.

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