Developer proposes 175-unit apartment complex on Newport Beach hotel parking lot

A preliminary application filed with the City of Newport Beach seeks to construct a six-level, 175-unit apartment complex on the existing parking lot of the Hyatt Regency Newport Beach. The proposed structure, named The Newporter Villas Apartment Community, would occupy land at 1107 Jamboree Road near Back Bay Drive and include 188,400 square feet of residential space along with 5,040 square feet of ground-floor retail.

Santa Ana-based JGKallins Investments Newport LLC submitted the filing. George J. Kallins serves as the managing director of the development entity and is identified in the documents as the owner of the 24-acre parcel beneath the hotel. Irvine-based Starpointe Ventures represents the property owner, while Pasadena-based LCRA Architects is the project’s architect. Representatives from Starpointe Ventures did not return a request for comment.

The design calls for three levels of parking stacked beneath three levels of apartments. The unit mix consists of 85 one-bedroom apartments and 90 two-bedroom units. Planning documents indicate that 157 of these units will be market-rate, while 18 will be designated for low-income households earning up to 80 percent of the area median income. The complex will also provide 908 total parking spaces, including 574 replacement spaces for the hotel, 265 residential spaces, and additional spots for retail customers and guests.

The city’s general plan previously identified the site of the hotel’s pickleball courts, adjacent to the Palisades Tennis Club, as a potential location for residential development to help meet the Regional Housing Needs Assessment allocation of 4,845 units. Under this new proposal, the developer is asking city officials to shift the residential site from the pickleball court area to the current surface parking lot along Jamboree and Back Bay Drive.

The hotel property was acquired by Los Angeles-based Woodridge Capital Partners in 2018 for $95 million from Sunstone Hotel Investors. The hotel operates under a ground lease that runs through 2048. It is unclear whether Woodridge Capital has a role in the proposed apartment development. Woodridge Capital officials did not respond to a request for comment.

The project is currently in the preliminary application stage and has not received final city approval. A minor discrepancy exists in the documentation, as the city’s planning case summary describes the project as having 174 apartments, while the application specifies 175 units.