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COSTA MESA, CA-Rutter Development of Irvine has kicked off sales of its 145-unit Pacifica condominiums, a Downtown Costa Mesa project that is expected to open in early 2008. The development, at the corner of 19th Street and Newport Boulevard, will consist of two-bedroom luxury townhomes and flats with resort-style poolside cabanas, with prices starting in the high $500,000 range.

Jay Rutter, president of Rutter Development, says that the company is offering buyers priority in selecting and customizing their units at the luxury development, which will feature a host of common area amenities as well as the high-end finishes and interior features inside the units. The new project is part of the revitalization now under way in Downtown Costa Mesa, where city officials have emphasized the maximum reliance on private enterprise to rejuvenate and reshape the area.

The Pacifica project continues a Southern California trend of recent years in which developers are building both for-sale and rental multifamily projects in downtowns ranging from Los Angeles to San Pedro to a number of cities in Orange County. Rutter says that the new project is part of the changing face of Costa Mesa and that it is designed to meet the housing demand from prospective buyers who prefer an urban lifestyle.