IRVINE, CA—Michael Jackson played the Irvine Meadows Amphitheater on his 1988 "Bad" tour. Bob Dylan performed there too, and hundreds of other acts have graced the stage since it was build in 1981. But after the final performances next fall, the 16,000-capacity amphitheater will be torn down, and Orange County will lose its largest outdoor music venue, and The Irvine Co. will develop apartments on the property.

The lease that concert promoter Live Nation holds for the property will expire in 2017. The Irvine Co., which owns the land, will begin building the second phase of its Los Olivos apartment development on the site. There are no immediate plans for a replacement, according to the Orange County Register.

Irvine Meadows opened in 1981 and at different times shared the 500-acre swath of land with a drive-through animal park and a water park. Both of those have since closed. After the Wild Rivers Waterpark shut down in 2011, the Irvine Co. built the first of two phases of its Los Olivos apartment community on its former site, opening the development in 2013.

"This parcel of land was always meant to transition to a more permanent use," Irvine Co. spokesman Bill Lobdell told The Register. The plan the company put forth in 2006, to build housing next to Irvine Spectrum businesses, is intended to ensure the city's long-term economic health, the company says. "With the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre lease expiring in early 2017, the final phase of that plan can then go forward."

The first phase of Los Olivos is completed with 1,750 apartment units. Construction on the second phase will start after the amphitheater lease expires. That phase will encompass 1,950 apartments and will cover what is now the amphitheater's parking lot. No development is planned for the footprint of the amphitheater itself, but the venue will be razed soon after the lease ends.

Click Orange County Register to read the full story.