Proposed Tower Ready for Public Vote

ORANGE COUNTY, CA-The Newport Beach City Council has approved plans by a private group to build a 10-story office tower in Koll Center Newport, clearing the way for the first public vote on a project that falls under a new slow-growth provision in the city charter.

The council voted 5-to-2 to approve the proposed high-rise, following the unanimous approval of the local planning commission last month. The 250,000-sf tower would rise inside Koll’s master-planned project at MacArthur Boulevard and Jamboree Road and be built by a group led by Newport Beach resident and investor Tim Strader Sr.

Last fall, 63% of voters in the city approved the so-called “Greenlight Initiative” that generally requires a public vote on projects that would exceed allowances in the general plan by 40,000 sf, or would involve more than 100 car trips or homes that the general plan allows. The initiative was incorporated into the city charter earlier this year.