ORANGE COUNTY, CA-A proposal by a private investment group to build a 10-story office tower in Newport Beach has been approved by city planners, setting the stage for the first public vote on a project that falls under a new slow-growth provision in the city charter.

A group led by Newport Beach resident and investor Tim Strader Sr. wants to build the 250,000-sf tower at MacArthur Boulevard and Jamboree Road, inside Koll Development's master-planned Koll Center Newport project. Plans for the tower were unanimously approved by the local planning commission late last week and forwarded to the City Council.

Last fall, voters in the city overwhelmingly passed the so-called “Greenlight Initiative” that generally requires a public vote on projects that would exceed allowances in the general plan by 40,000 sf, or would involve more than 100 car trips or homes that the general plan allows. The initiative was incorporated into the city charter earlier this year.

Because of its size, the office tower proposed by Strader falls under the new provision and thus must be approved by a majority of local voters. Strader's group has promised to pay the city about $3.2 million for traffic improvements if the tower is built.

The group has also agreed to pay the estimated $60,000 to $125,000 it would cost to put the project up for a vote in a special election this fall, rather than waiting for the regularly scheduled election in spring 2002.

Instant Insights /

Local Group First to Confront New Slow-Growth Law

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