Builder files condo plans

Papers filed with Newport Beach’s planning department show plans to

build a new condominium development in Newport Center.

The plans were filed by Lennar Corp., a Miami-based homebuilding

firm with a regional office in Aliso Viejo. The development, called

the Santa Barbara Condominiums, would be built along Santa Barbara

Drive on the current site of the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel’s

tennis courts.

The hotel is in the middle of a major renovation project that is

on schedule to finish in December. Hotel general manager Bill

Gunderson said the hotel will change its name to the Newport Beach

Marriott Hotel & Spa on Dec. 15.

According to plans, which are dated June 2004, the more than

200,000-square-foot development would include 79 condos. The average

size of each unit would be slightly less than 2,600 square feet.

The city’s planning commission is not yet scheduled to discuss the

project, but the condo plans could come before the body in the next

few months, Newport Beach associate planner Rosalinh Ung said.

Lennar is being represented by Newport Beach-based Government

Solutions Inc. for the project. Government Solutions vice president

Marice White said she hopes the proposal will come before the

planning commission by November.

The plans have not changed since they were filed, White said.

The proposed buildings would have a maximum height of about 50

feet, White said. Condos would have ocean and golf course views and

Mediterranean-style architecture.

“Very Newport Beach,” White said. “Very lush landscaping, all with

trees.”

Lennar is still in negotiations to buy the land from Host Marriott

Corp., White said. Host Marriott is a Bethesda, Md.-based hotel real

estate company. An official with Host Marriott declined to comment.

The proposal would require permits from Newport Beach and the

California Coastal Commission, White said. The Coastal Commission

could discuss the proposed condos by the summer of next year.

“If we’re out of the Coastal Commission by summer 2006 ... [the

condos would] be on the market by 2008,” White said.

* ANDREW EDWARDS covers business and the environment. He can be

reached at (714) 966-4624 or [email protected].