This event showcased the Irvine Company’s Santa Clara Square community, and began with a visit to the sixth floor viewing suite for a bird’s eye view of the project and sweeping views of the valley.

The panel discussion started with an overview of Irvine Company’s holdings, the Santa Clara Square project and its formulation from Steven Kellenberg, Senior Vice President, Master Architect and Planner. The company has 8.5 million square feet of retail along with over 1,100 hotel rooms, 58,000 apartments and 45 million square feet of office. Here in Silicon Valley there are 7,700 apartments and 6 million square feet of office. Santa Clara Square is 100 acres in total, has taken approximately five years to develop and is part of the Irvine Company’s Great America Corridor strategy, along with Santa Clara Gateway to the north. The project began with 31 acres entitled for office, and from that beachhead they were able to add Park Square for another 31 acres, and another 15 acres south of Scott Boulevard. The final project includes 1.7 million square feet of Class ‘A” Office, 165 thousand square feet of commercial retail, and 1,800 apartments

Carlene Matchniff, Vice President, Entitlements and Public Affairs, described the entitlement process which began with the 2009 entitlement for office and retail, and was added to in 2012 and 2014 as additional phases of the project were envisioned. In 2015 a comprehensive Environmental Impact Report (EIR), general plan amendment and rezone were completed to include the residential. In 2016, an additional 245 thousand square feet of office were added south of Scott. As part of the entitlement process the Irvine Company is providing 180 affordable housing units, as well as a hazardous materials fire truck, and mitigation fees for the local school district.

Todd Hedrick, Regional Vice President, spoke about the properties “de-leasing” strategy, which included 75 deals that needed to be navigated by the Irvine Company. Many tenants ultimately moved to the Irvine Company’s Milpitas properties, such that they were on both sides of the transaction.

Todd Arris, Senior Vice President, Development and Construction, spoke about the office development and current tenant strategy as well as some aspects of site remediation. The current phase 1 of leasing includes Ericsson, occupying two buildings. The office is classic modern style with a high-performance buildings and good connectivity between the buildings. The retail space is designed to complement the retail with cafés and other amenities, which are already up and running.

Elizabeth Puccinelli, Vice President, Retail Development, spoke about the projects retail concept and how it evolved as additional property became available. The project is now able to include a “Main Street” which was not feasible in earlier designs. The retail is considered an amenity to both the office and residential, and its style is classic Mediterranean. The retail includes ground level and second floor plans and is anchored by a Whole Foods and il Fornaio. Due to the reconfigurations of the project, Whole Foods was able to secure 50,000 square feet and make space for a tap room. Mixed -use will be a highlighted feature along Main Street, with 325 units of residential above 40,000 square feet of retail.

Steven Kellenberg concluded the panel by highlighting the apartment complex along Main Street and it’s amenities. One such amenity will be referred to as “The Garage,” a flex space where people can do hands-on projects like fix bikes and work on hobby projects. Residents will also have access to urban parks and trails that run along the perimeter of the property, with parkour features as well as parklets.

Irvine Company’s concept for this project is live-work-shop-play, and they are well on their way to achieving this vision. In all, it was an illuminating discussion at a beautiful venue and illustrated the possibilities for major mixed-use development to occur when the business model and the location come together.

By Kara Gross