The price for the land, on the 500 block of Newport Center, has been set at $145 per square foot for 53,000 square feet. That works out to roughly $7.7 million, which could make the Irvine Co. proposed site cheaper than another hotly contested site by the central library.
Whether the proposed deal will affect where Newport’s next city hall will go remains to be seen, but it may make it harder for the group City Hall in the Park to win a February ballot measure that would require Newport Beach’s city hall to be built next to the city’s central library.
“As for the ballot issue, it creates a new choice or an option,” Mayor Steve Rosansky said Tuesday night.
Indeed, the Irvine Co. also promised to give Newport Beach $27 million in development fees to build a new city hall wherever it wants.
“This is an equal agreement irrespective of the outcome of the vote,” Councilman Ed Selich said Tuesday.
Rosansky and Selich were in charge of negotiating the Irvine Co. deal for the city.
The nonpartisan resident group Speak Out Newport will host a debate on the City Hall ballot issue Nov. 14 at the Newport Beach Yacht Club, 1099 Bayside Drive.
The showdown will kick off with a reception featuring appetizers and a cash bar from 5 to 6 p.m. The main event, with speakers from both sides of the city hall debate, will begin at 6 p.m.
DREDGING PROJECT
Newport Beach will seek state and federal funds to continue its dredging of Upper Newport Bay, Councilwoman Leslie Daigle said Wednesday.
Recent wildfires also may result in state funding for the dredging project, Daigle said. Sediment from charred hilltops that might end up in the bay from runoff could mean additional dollars for the project.
The city met with a representative from the Army Corps of Engineers earlier this week to identify possible sources of funding to continue the $30 million project. The city only has about $13 million left to finish the dredging project.
The corps suggested the city work closer with Congress to get funding for the project and also seek funding from the presidential budget.
The city also will seek funding in the form of private donations from locals.
“This is an issue our residents are very passionate about,” Daigle said.
BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at brianna.bailey@latimes.com.
