“The City and our development partners have worked hard behind the scenes for the last few years to ensure that the redevelopment of MCAS Tustin would be an integrated part of our City,” said Assistant City Manager Christine Shingleton. “These years of planning have paid off with the development of our first neighborhood. We are continuing development throughout the base and we want to share our base closure reuse and urban infill project experiences with developers across the Country.”

The seminar continued at Tustin Field 1’s clubhouse with a lunch and briefing from other developers at Tustin Legacy. Bradley Pontius, representing Tustin Legacy Partners, a joint venture of Centex Homes and Shea Properties described their role as master developer of over 800 plus acres at Tustin Legacy and provided a briefing of the status of their negotiations with the City and their intended Master Development Plan. The Master Development Plan proposes the development of over 2,100 dwelling units and approximately 6.7 million square feet of commercial and light industrial uses. A key feature and focus of their plan is the development of a 170-acre linear park that will traverse the site and enhance the view of the nearby Saddleback Mountains. Currently, the master developer joint venture are concluding negotiations with the City and expect a final agreement by January 2006.

Jeffrey Axtel of Vestar Kimco gave a short briefing on their 1 million square foot lifestyle and retail shopping center, The District at Tustin Legacy. The development’s core will focus on lifestyle and entertainment amenities and have several bistros and cafes, a 250,000 square foot AMC megaplex movie theater, a bookstore, a bowling alley, specialty shops, and other soft entertainment venues. The outer area of The District will comprise Big Box and large shopping venues such as Costco and Target.

Following the lunch and briefings, attendees took a walking tour of the Tustin Field I neighborhood with architectural highlights and points of interest narrated by Steve Kabel of John Laing Homes. The tour continued in the bus with a drive through of Tustin Field 2, which is currently under construction, and a tour through the former base where development construction and infrastructure construction continues. Attendees had the opportunity to walk through one of the historic blimp hangars. The hangars were constructed in the early 1940’s to accommodate military dirigibles that were used to patrol the coast during the early years of WWII.

Other development projects at Tustin Legacy pointed out on the tour included two neighborhoods, Columbus Grove and Columbus Square that will have a total of 1,542 homes within the City of Tustin being developed by Lennar and William Lyon Homes. Rancho Santiago Community College District will break ground next week on a new regional public safety training facility. A ground breaking this week will also initiate South Orange County Community College District’s construction of a new college site called Advanced Technology Education Park that will specialize in market driven career training. Tustin Unified School District will build two elementary schools, and a new high school at Tustin Legacy to accommodate the new families moving into the project. The county of Orange anticipates receiving 84 acres at Tustin Legacy from the Federal government for a county regional park and ancillary county support facilities.

The City of Tustin is fulfilling their state affordable housing mandates at Tustin Legacy through an innovative home ownership program and when Tustin Legacy is completely developed, close to 880 homes will be available at affordable prices based on state and federal guidelines. These homes will match the architecture and quality of construction of market rate homes and will be dispersed throughout the Tustin Legacy. This is an important to Orange County’s job growth and to the County achieving a jobs-housing balance. Currently only 11% of Orange County residents can afford to buy a median priced home.

Seminar attendees also learned of the City of Tustin’s unique incorporation of the needs of the homeless and transitional households into their reuse efforts at Tustin Legacy. Tustin is leasing the Orange County Rescue Mission land that includes former Marine barracks that are being refurbished to house the nation’s largest transitional homeless facility for families. The City has secured in its negotiations with the developers at Tustin Legacy brand new units for the Salvation Army, Orange Coast Interfaith Shelter, Human Options and Irvine Families Forward, who will each receive, at no cost, affordable units to use to fulfill their missions of transitioning families out of the cycle of homelessness and into self-sufficiency.

After the Tustin Legacy tour, the seminar attendees continued a few miles south to the City of Irvine to tour the El Toro Marine Base development, which is called Heritage Fields.

About Tustin Legacy
At 1,584 acres, Tustin Legacy is one of the largest infill projects in Orange County. A master-planned development for the former Marine Corps Air Station, Tustin Legacy will include approximately 8.2 million square feet of commercial and retail space, and over 4,600 residential dwellings, as well as schools, parks and a one-millon-square-foot retail project called “The District at Tustin Legacy.” Tustin Field, the first component of Tustin Legacy, is a new community with 565 new homes spread over seven product types and 69 acres.

About ULI
ULI–the Urban Land Institute is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit research and education organization supported by its members. Founded in 1936, the institute now has more than 25,000 members worldwide representing the entire spectrum of land use and real estate development disciplines, working in private enterprise and public service. As the preeminent, multidisciplinary real estate forum, ULI facilitates the open exchange of ideas, information and experience among local, national and international industry leaders and policy makers dedicated to creating better places. The mission of the Urban Land Institute is to provide responsible leadership in the use of land to enhance the total environment. Members say that ULI is a trusted idea place where leaders come to grow professionally and personally through sharing, mentoring, and problem solving. With pride, ULI members commit to the best in land use policy and practice.

About the City of Tustin
Located in the heart of Orange County, Tustin embraces both the historical past of citrus groves and the promising future of a vibrant 21st Century economy. From rustic Old Town Tustin to vital Tustin Ranch and the emerging Legacy development, Tustin is the place that 70,339 people, many families and businesses choose to call home. Tustin is a dynamic city in Orange County and a significant contributor to Orange County’s world-competitive economy. Families choose to live in Tustin because of its central location and small town feel. Businesses choose to locate in Tustin because of its central location and easy access to transportation. The city is proud of its reputation for sound fiscal management and its progressive, business-friendly atmosphere.