Irvine Co. Ditches Plan for Largest Orange County Life Science Hub

The Irvine Company has scrapped its plans to build the largest life science campus in Orange County, a 532K SF hub that would have been developed in cooperation with the UC Irvine campus at UCI Research Park in Irvine.

Instead, Irvine now plans to build a 1,200-unit apartment complex on the 19-acre UCI Research Park site at 100 Innovation Drive, according to a report in the Orange County Business Journal.

The Newport Beach-based company unveiled plans in November 2022 to build four office and research buildings encompassing 532K SF in a part of the UCI Research Park known as Academy Point.

The original plan called for a cluster of four-story buildings, each 128K SF and each featuring lab-ready offices for medical, healthcare and biotech tenants at the new campus in proximity to MacArthur Boulevard and University Drive.

Academy Point, as originally planned, was going to have exclusive access to UC Irvine, leading research hospitals, life science incubators and medical device companies in Orange County, according to the marketing materials.

Irvine Company spent $100M to upgrade its 185-acre UCI Research Park in 2018. The research park now includes 75 companies who occupy 36 buildings.

The plans fizzled after office values in Orange County dived while the multifamily market got hot in H1 2023. Now, Irvine is shifting to its wheelhouse in master-planned communities.

The plans have been shifted to build housing near workforce hubs that include thousands of high-tech jobs as well as a top-ranked research university. The 1,200 units envisioned by the project would be the first housing built at the UCI Research Park, the Journal report said.

The new multifamily development at Academy Point, which sits on the northwest corner of the research park, is expected to feature a series of low-rise buildings, with all-electric homes equipped with solar panels.

The project will need a zoning adjustment from medical and research to residential. The approval process could push the timeline for construction into early 2025, with delivery anticipated in 2027.

In March, Irvine Company and the city reached an agreement to develop 4,500 new homes, including 1,025 affordable units, on five infill sites.

The new apartments will be built at Irvine Company’s Discovery Park, Market Place, Spectrum, Los Olivos and Technology Drive developments.