Gemdale USA’s Office Development Faces Appeal in Irvine

A 275,000 square-foot office campus located at 2400 Barranca Parkway faces an appeal to the Irvine City Council on July 14. 

Back in March, the Irvine Planning Commission granted the developer, Gemdale USA entitlements to develop the office campus with 1,500 square feet of accessory retail. 

The proposed project which sits on a 4.95-acre site would demolish the existing office and industrial building to make way for a five-story office building, a six-story office building and a seven-story parking structure. 

The development is part of the Irvine Business Complex (IBC) Vision Plan and thus must conform to the design and architectural elements outlined in the Vision Plan. 

Architecture firm, EYRC Architects, will incorporate elements such as multifaceted rooftops, varied building heights, glass curtain walls and courtyard space, among other elements.

A groundbreaking date has not been announced, but W.E. O’Neil Construction is listed as the pre-construction contractor. 

Two appeals of the Planning Commission’s approval of the project were submitted based on the project’s perceived environmental review violations. Paul Swartz, one of the appellants, owns the property to the south of the project site. Lozeau Drury LLP, the other appellant, filed the appeal on behalf of a group called the Supporters’ Alliance for Environmental Responsibility (SAFER). 

Given the appeals to the proposed project, the City Council could deny the application for the community master plan and transfer of development rights outright, approve a modified version of the application elements, or send the application back to the Planning Commission for further consideration.