Developers behind the 1,057-unit One Metro West housing development in Costa Mesa say construction could start as soon as late 2025.
One Metro West developers have worked for more than half a decade toward putting shovels in the ground on the apartment complex. Once built out, likely by the mid 2030s, it would add around nearly 3,000 residents to Costa Mesa.
The city approved the project in 2021, initially putting it on a development path that would require voter approval. But a year later Costa Mesa voters approved Measure K, which eliminated the need for voter to weigh in on developments in some commercial and industrial areas to require voter approval. Under the new law, One Metro West won’t have to go before voters to get built.
One Metro West will be built at 1683 Sunflower Ave next to the 405 Freeway on a lot that currently includes a large warehouse. The complex will comprise three buildings, a park and some office and retail space.
“As you know, very little housing has been approved in Costa Mesa over the last eight years. And lack of housing is at the core of so many of society’s issues,” said Brent Stoll, a partner for the developer Rose Equities at a council meeting in early June.
Stoll said construction is expected to occur in three phases. The first building, which is closest to the freeway, will have about 400 units and will take up to three years to build. As part of the project, the developers are enhancing a bike lane on Sunflower Avenue that will connect with the Santa Ana River Trail.
In addition to the apartments, the development will include a 1.5-acre public park, 25,000 square feet of commercial office space, and about 6,000 square feet of retail space. As proposed, it could take a decade to complete the project.
Stoll told the Register that rent prices aren’t set yet but will be market-based once the apartments are built. He said if the apartments were leasing today rents would start at around $2,600 to $2,700 a month for a studio. That’d make the apartments slightly more expensive than most rentals in the area. The median rent for a two-bedroom dwelling in Costa Mesa is $2,587, according to data from Apartment List.
About 10% of the project — 106 apartments — will be deed-restricted as affordable housing for low-income and very-low-income households.
The overall median rent in Costa Mesa as of June is $2,511, according to Apartment List.
The developer, Rose Equities, will pay $17.8 million in development fees to the city, split into two payments: $8 million in the year construction starts and the remainder, with interest, five years later.
The first building will be up to 78 feet high, and a parking garage will be built next to it that will face the 405 Freeway. The development is required to have an art installation on the side of the garage that faces the freeway.
At a meeting in early June, in which the council approved amending the development agreement for One Metro West, several councilmembers spoke of the urgent need for housing in Costa Mesa. They noted there currently aren’t any other developers planning a project as big as One Metro West.
“I’ve had too many conversations with my kids, who are 17 and 20, about how expensive it is to live here,” said councilmember Jeffery Harlan. “They shouldn’t be thinking about that. They should be thinking about what they want to do with their life, enjoying that moment. But they recognize the reality that coming back to live here is way too expensive. We have a moral obligation to do something about that.”
The second and third apartment buildings, one of which would reach as high as 98 feet, would likely be built separately and also take around three years to build
Mayor John Stephens said the only sustainable way to address the problem of expensive housing is to build more homes in Costa Mesa.
“One Metro West … is the only developer who is likely to build any substantial amount of homes in the next five to 10 years,” Stephens said.
