[CPEO-MEF] REUSE: "Transforming El Toro (CA) into Great Park a slow process"

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

[The "housing downturn" has thrown a wrench into the works at a number 
of closed military bases. - LS]


Transforming El Toro into Great Park a slow process

By SEAN EMERY
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER (CA)
July 2, 2009

IRVINE - The transformation from a stark military base to a lush Great 
Park is still a work in progress a decade after the shuttering of El 
Toro, but the recent completion of park designs has local leaders 
promising to soon move from the drawing table to the bulldozer.

Orange County voters in 2002 ended a contentious decade-long fight for 
the future of the El Toro base, scrapping plans for a commercial airport 
in favor of the ambitious Great Park.

Lennar Corp. purchased the bulk of the El Toro land in 2005, giving 
Irvine the 1,347-acre Great Park property, along with $200 million in 
developer fees, in return for the rights to build residential, 
commercial and retail space around the property.

As the ensuing housing downturn delayed Lennar's plans, Great Park 
leaders focused their attention on the project's design, hiring Ken 
Smith to prepare a comprehensive vision for the park.

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/park-great-leaders-2481972-million-toro

--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org



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