Costa Mesa : Planning Panel OKs Phase of Lakes Project

The Planning Commission has approved another phase of the ambitious, 30.2-acre commercial, retail, hotel and residential Lakes Project development planned for an area east of Town Center.

The commission Monday unanimously approved plans for a 770-unit condominium project and the 491-room Red Lion Inn. The projects will be considered at a City Council meeting Monday.

Vice Mayor Mary Hornbuckle said several other projects in the development, including a group of high-rise office buildings, have yet to come before the council.

Earlier this month, the City Council approved two phases of the development, including a 237-room, six-story hotel to be built by the Beverly Heritage Hotel, a national chain.

The structure will include a two-story restaurant and a 329-space, three-story parking garage.

The council has also approved two one-story buildings to be constructed at the northeast corner of Anton Boulevard and Avenue of the Arts.

One of the buildings will contain a 7,100-square-foot restaurant and the other will have a 4,200-square-foot restaurant.

In addition, the 13-story, 213-room Guest Quarters Hotel has also received council approval.

Plans call for the hotels and the two commercial buildings to be connected with walkways crisscrossing over a man-made pond, developers said.

Construction of the commercial phase of the project is scheduled to begin by April.

The project developers are the Santa Ana-based Sakioka Farms and Transpacific Development Co. of Torrance.