Newport getting new shopping, offices, homes

If you haven't noticed the construction near East Coast Highway and Newport Center Drive, you will soon — a 42,000-square-foot office building is going up, and it's not the only change happening in Newport Center.

The office building will use up the last of the Irvine Co.'s office entitlements in Newport Center, Newport Beach Assistant City Manager Sharon Wood said.

A parking structure and a new open-air shopping area to replace the former Macy's women's store also are being built in Fashion Island.

The area will also get more housing under the city's new general plan.

City planners in late June met with Irvine Co. officials to talk about plans for up to 430 residential units. Plans for that housing may be submitted to the city this fall.

Newport Beach City Council members later this month will hear a report on the feasibility of two Newport Center sites as city hall locations: an Orange County Transportation Authority park-and-ride center and a parcel next to the central library, both on Avocado Avenue.

— Alicia Robinson