BIGGEST STORY IN COSTA MESA, AND THE DAILY PILOT IS SILENT
The biggest story in Costa Mesa right now was the approval by the no-Planning Commission on Tuesday of the Westside Lofts project of Nexus Development.
As far as we know, the Daily Pilot hasn't reported on this.
You may be saying, "CM PRESS, what's the big deal? There are much bigger developments going on in the South Coast Metro area of the city."
The big deal, dear readers, is that this project is located on the Westside Bluffs--THE WESTSIDE BLUFFS-- and it may jump start the revitalization of the entire Westside.
At 6.82 acres, this project is also about ten percent of the industrial land on the Bluffs, and that ain't small potatoes.
This project is also within walking distance of Volcom's corporate offices and warehouse facility on Monrovia. "Synergism," and "hip" come to mind.
But, there may be more to this project than you see on paper about what it can mean for the evolution of the Westside away from being the worst part of our city to being the hippest and most urbane part of Costa Mesa.
Maybe a clue about the future of the Westside presented itself in the person of Curt Olson, the CEO of Nexus Development, who stood up from the audience and went to the podium to speak to the Commission.
The CM PRESS had never seen Olson before, and we had expected him to be the typical lifeless looking and conformist Orange County businessman with the de rigeur conservative suit and the power necktie.
Instead, when Olson stood up, we immediately thought of Sir Richard Branson, the British billionaire and visionary, who looks more like a member of a rock group than a businessman and who isn't afraid to put his money where his mouth is and have fun while doing it. Olson also reminded us a little of Shaheen Sadeghi who brought us The Lab and The Camp and who is transforming the area around Bristol and Baker into a unique and fun area of our city.
It's not that Olson is a ringer for Branson or Sadeghi, but there's a look and an attitude that struck us as similar.
Olson has longish dark hair, and sideburns that would put Elvis to shame. He was wearing a dark T-shirt with some logo or picture on the front, that we couldn't make out, over a long sleeve lighter T-shirt, and he had sunglasses dangling from the front of the T-shirt. He looked as though he had just been surfing.
Olson told the Commission about how he had started a business in the Quonset huts on W. 17th Street in the '70's and how after his business failed, he decided to go to college; which led to where he is today. He also told about his vision for his project and for the Bluffs.
As I watched and listened, I kept thinking that this guy was too good to be real. It was almost as though Central Casting had sent a guy with the "feel" that many Improvers had been hoping for to help transform the Westside.
Then, Olson casually mentioned that right now he's building two 25 story towers on South Main Street and MacArthur in Santa Ana. I occasionally pass that location and have seen the towers that he's building. Yup, he's for real.
Olson told the Commission that once the Westside Lofts project is built, he plans on moving his company to the offices that are part of the project. He also spoke of being able to see the ocean--where he does surf--from some of the upper units, once the project is completed.
Look, we don't know Olson, and maybe we've got him wrong and maybe we're jumping to false conclusions and judging a book by its cover, but we have a feeling that having this guy in an office on our Bluffs where he can look out his window and have ideas of what to do next on the Bluffs is not a bad thing.
Westside Lofts will have 151 residential condo units, 5 live work units, and about 40,000 square feet of commercial space. The location is behind MacGregor Yachts.
An interesting aspect of the design of Westside Lofts is the fact that the parking structure and condos will be in a "wrap" configuration. This means that you will drive into the four story parking structure and go to your parking place on the level of your condo and then walk down a hallway to your condo unit.
Westside Lofts will be the first major residential/mixed use project to be built in the middle of the 60 acre Westside industrial zone on the Westside Bluffs since the City changed the rules to allow such projects.
It is hoped that once this project is built, that those buying units--and they're expected to be mostly young upwardly mobile singles--will, by their presence, start a whole cascade of beneficial changes to the area, including an influx of top-flight retailers.Time will tell how the whole Westside does evolve, but if this project is a harbinger of things to come, the Westside may become THE place to be.
Hip lofts aren’t unique in the current real estate business. They’re found in cities all across the nation. The difference here is that these are close to the ocean and blend in with an already established surf/skateboard youth oriented culture that is, itself, evolving and putting Costa Mesa on the map worldwide.
The Westside Bluffs of Costa Mesa are unique. It's our guess that they’re on their way to becoming even more so.
# # #Those are our opinions. Thanks for reading them.
