Former site of Costa Mesa’s RVCA apparel store being eyed for live/work housing
After long serving as a way station of Orange County surf and skate culture, a 2.3-acre parcel on Costa Mesa’s 16th Street — the erstwhile headquarters of apparel company RVCA — is being eyed for housing.
City officials Tuesday screened a proposal for a 38-unit live/work development at 960 W. 16th St., adjacent to Costa Mesa’s shared boundary with the city of Newport Beach and steps away from the 387-acre Randall Preserve, formerly called Banning Ranch.
Floated by Newport Beach developer Intracorp, plans include a series of three-story detached single-family residences with rooftop patios, ranging from 1,900 to 2,300 square feet, that would include first-floor workspaces that could be used for in-home businesses.
The property currently falls within the Mesa West Bluffs Urban Plan, a 277-acre overlay area on the city’s west side that allows for live/work units in a master plan process, in which builders may deviate from certain development standards in exchange for quality housing projects.
That process requires applicants to undergo an initial screening by the Costa Mesa City Council before submitting the project for formal review and approval by the Planning Commission, to allow for further refinement.
On Tuesday, Intracorp vice president of development Rick Puffer explained his firm, which specializes in infill development, had previous success with a similar 42-unit westside Costa Mesa project, the Place, off 17th Street, where homes are valued between $1.2 and $1.4 million.
“We often get asked in our office if we’re going to replicate this product type in the Southern California area,†Puffer told the council. “So, we’re happy to bring back a similar product type here.â€
The West Bluffs Urban Plan’s live-work concept allows for the property to be built at a density of 16.5 units per acre, as opposed to the 13 units that would be allowed were the project to be solely residential.
Still, applicants are seeking three additional deviations from those standards, asking that the buildings be 6 feet apart from one another, instead of the standard 10 feet, and that the site be allowed to offer only 53 guest parking spaces, including residential driveways, as opposed to the required 57 spaces.
Intracorp additionally requests the first-floor workspaces in the units be smaller in area than the required 250 square feet, instead ranging from 120 to 180 square feet. Puffer maintained the smaller spaces help the project come closer to meeting parking requirements, while still allowing for personal training, accounting or work-from-home scenarios.
Council members expressed hesitancy about further reducing the workspaces, questioning whether the project would still embody the spirit of the live/work standard, and the fact that the overlay’s own requirements enforce a parking standard of more than three spaces per unit.
“The urban plan, to my mind, is outdated and doesn’t reflect a lot of modern conditions,†said Mayor Pro Tem Jeffrey Harlan. “There’s this live/work component, but the work component seems to get smaller and smaller with each project, so it essentially just becomes a home office or study.â€
Due to the property’s location, the project would be subject to a vote by the people of Costa Mesa under Measure Y, requiring voter approval of certain large-scale developments, and would not fall under the city’s still-baking affordable housing ordinance because its units would be owned, not rented.
Councilwoman Arlis Reynolds, in whose 5th Council District the project falls, said the city should keep in mind 16th Street may one day serve as a main entry point to the Randall Preserve, an old oil field being cleaned up as a habitat for sensitive species.
“Right now, it’s a dead end,†she said. “[But] in the future, it will be kind of like a main street. So I want to encourage us to think about that future and positioning for that future.â€
Councilwoman Andrea Marr said were she considering the live/work project for approval, she’d have a hard time justifying the proposed dimensions.
“When we start shrinking [the workspace] to the size of a closet, I struggle to think this is anything other than a way of squeezing more density on the site,†she said, acknowledging that Intracorp was only playing by the city’s own rule book.
“In this case, even though I don’t like the rules, I’d have a hard time bending them quite as much as I think you’re asking us to under this current plan right now.â€
Founded in 2001, RVCA was sold in 2010 to Australian surf wear company Billabong for a reported $30 million. Eight years later, Billabong was purchased by Boardriders, a subsidiary of asset management company Oaktree Capital, which itself was acquired in July 2023 by New York-based Authentic Brands Group, owner of Volcom, Reebok, Forever 21 and Juicy Couture.
At that time, two well-known murals on the RVCA building were quietly painted over ahead of a sale of the property, the Pilot reported.
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