Sage Park, a 68-townhome community will soon be coming to Irvine’s Portola Springs neighborhood after a groundbreaking ceremony was held in late January. The soon-to-be completed community, located at 77 Plateau, will provide residents with an affordable home ownership option as well as a variety of resident amenities.
The first round of construction at the townhome community will be completed in early 2022, with a second phase of construction running through the summer of the same year.
Once complete, the housing community will offer 16 two-, 36 three- and 16 four-bedroom homes, with square footage ranging from 1,282 to 1,609 square feet depending on the layout of the unit. The housing community will also include a pool, spa, patio and BBQ area, recreation area and playground.
Located in the Portola Springs neighborhood in Irvine, the project site is just off Native Spring, near Interstate 133 and Irvine Boulevard. The location puts it in close proximity to many other residential properties. Portola Springs is also home to many community parks, including Voyager Park, Hidden Park, Orchard Trails Park and Lomas Valley Park, among others. The larger Limestone Canyon Regional Park is just a drive away as well, providing future residents with plenty of open space and hiking trails.
The project is being developed by Irvine Community Trust, a nonprofit developer with a goal of providing affordable housing options within the city of Irvine. Previously focusing on rental properties, the development is Irvine Community Trust’s first affordable home ownership program. Townhome prices at the community will begin in the low $400,000s, but will depend on the size of the property and preferred layout. By comparison, Zillow reported the average price for a home in the city of Irvine is approximately $995,107.
“One of the most exciting aspects of Sage Park, both for the ICLT and for our prospective residents, is that it is our first homeownership development. Our previous developments have been rental communities for the City of Irvine, and our long-term goal has always been to also provide an affordable avenue to homeownership. With our rental communities, we’ve provided a foothold for low-income families to find the security they need to make that leap. With Sage Park, we’re now ready to provide a destination of our own making,” the nonprofit said in a newsletter.
While this is the organization’s first time developing a non-rental community, the organization has previously developed four affordable multifamily apartment complexes in Irvine. These include Parc Derian, at 16201 Derian Avenue; Alegre, at 3100 Vision; Doria, at 1000 Crested Bird; and Salerno, at 200 Nightmist.
The organization was created in 2005 by the City of Irvine as a means of addressing the affordable housing crisis in the community. In 2017, the organization separated from the City to become a sovereign entity. It has since created 327 units of permanently affordable housing units, with an additional 80 apartments and 68 townhomes still under construction.
Orange County, overall, has struggled to provide affordable housing options to residents. According to a 2021 quarter one multifamily market report from Kidder Mathews, the region has seen a slight increase in rental rates, as vacancy in the area has decreased by 26.79 percent in the past year. According to the brokerage firm, rental rates in the region have increased by 3.44 percent in the last year, and currently average $2,077 per month.
The Irvine Community Trust did not respond in time to comment on this story.
