Riordan: Development needed to be done on the site with consideration for all of the various levels of housing, from low- to moderate-level income to market-rate, rather than segregating the different uses. There will be a true new central park space, recreation across the street from a neighborhood school. We feel this is the best way to plan for a new community.

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GlobeSt.com: What does this project represent for the commercial real estate industry?

Riordan: The rental is a tax-credit, affordable project, and it's 100% affordable. The market-rate portion will be 128 townhomes that will vary in price according to what they can achieve in the marketplace.

Aeh: One of the things we as a developer do is look at the existing built environment. Here, you had former industrial commercial uses next to single-family and multifamily, and the City had a really great vision on how the entire area could be repositioned with new infill housing. One of the stories is how you can revitalize non-performing commercial industrial to create new households and built-out communities by transitioning to residential. In terms of commercial real estate, in areas that are underperforming, the ability to reposition the land to affordable housing is a plus. We are starting to see new communities coming out of the ground, and the Parker Collection is giving families an opportunity to buy a new home in Orange County close to jobs in a mature school district and near retail, and hopefully this keeps people off the freeways. It's an alternative to the Inland Empire and having to do a commute to find a job. We find that our homebuyers want to live in Buena Park; they want to stay in North Orange County. So, they have the choice of buying a 1970s home that may need updating or buying brand-new from us.

GlobeSt.com: Do you foresee other similar projects being developed in the county?

Aeh: It's really hard for private investors and developers to assemble property in that manner. The governor abolished the RDA while we were trying to do this project, and the housing agency was swimming in uncharted waters. This was a working partnership between City Ventures and Jamboree and the housing agency, who worked together to make sure we were ready to do this the right way.

Riordan: There were environment and cleanup issues and things that needed to be removed. We are picking up a blighted area and creating more growth and opportunity there.

GlobeSt.com: What else should our readers know about this project?

Riordan: From a global perspective, the big story I believe is when you have underperforming commercial and industrial areas, and you transition into housing, it can become an interesting revenue-generating tool. It creates a significant number of jobs and allows the city to retain employees, and when housing becomes affordable, it increases residents' income and allows them to go to retail and restaurants and spend money there. Housing is not often thought of in that way. Laura has some great numbers that show how this can be extrapolated.

Archuleta: Per the National Association of Homebuilders, during the year of construction, the 70 units at Clark Commons will produce $5.5 million in local income, $578,900 in taxes for the local government and 85 jobs. Upon completion, annually thereafter these units will product $1.6 million in local income, $308,700 in taxes for the local government and 21 jobs.