Parasol Park: General Information (Revised)
So, a while back, information started coming in about the area south of Beacon Park. The area is part of District 1-North, but not part of Beacon Park (which is also part of District 1-North), and the Base Camp retail area was formerly known as District 1-South. To avoid confusion, I referred to it as District 1-North. The area west of Ridge Valley became known as District 1-West (even though it is still part of District 1-North). District 1-South does not have this "West" problem because where it would be is Cypress Village East-East (being labeled as Cypress Village per village monuments, even though it is farther east than Cypress Village East itself). What Irvine Company gave to the U.S. is not given back necessarily...
Then, updates came. First, District 1-Mid was rechristened NoSo, just as District 4 was rechristened District Next. Then, products got shuffled. Originally, the retail area was proposed to be along Ridge Valley in NoSo, but the retail area got pushed south of Trabuco to promote continuity, while the 429 condominiums proposed for District 1-South were added to NoSo. There were originally 70' x 60' single-family residences along Bosque where Obsidian is now located, but those got scrapped. Thus, Juniper will be the closest single-family residences ever to be built relative to Great Park. Coincidentally, a future shopping center in Cypress Village will be located across the 133, at the southeast corner of Trabuco and Sand Canyon.
Finally, NoSo received its official name, Parasol Park, after the giant tree situated just at the edge of the park next to Obsidian. The parks of Great Park themselves were renamed. Originally, the neighborhoods were named after the park that was centered there (Pavilion Park, Beacon Park, etc.). However, things broke down after Beacon Park because there was a second park in Beacon Park to be built and soon-to-be two parks in District 1-West. To alleviate this problem, Pavilion Park was renamed Earth Park, while Beacon Park was renamed Air & Navigation Park. The park just south of the Ellwood condominiums is now the Water & Wellness Park, while the park centered on Parasol Park is now the Yards Park.
Simultaneously, retail areas were being shifted in District Next. Originally, retail was planned at the center of the community, about Modjeska, where homes could be situated above the shops, just as in the Tempo building in Playa Vista. However, the developers quickly released that product types needed to be changed, and now the retail center is located at the northeast corner, next to District 7 (now referred to as Altair). Similarly, a second park was planned for District Next at the southwest corner of the community, but the two parks became one, at the center of the community. Bisecting the 4 single-family residence communities from the condominiums, a greenbelt weaves its way from the park to the retail. The single-family residences were originally planned for areas closest to the cemetery, but clearly, that won't work. Now, they are farthest away from it.
The image above has some mistakes, such as now, both Parasol Park and District Next will open in 2017, and the single-family communities are slightly mixed up in the map (if I have time later, I will fix it). But for now, we have a general idea.
Now, I will shift the focus of this post to solely Parasol Park. If you have any information about District Next or Altair (early 2018 opening anticipated; information located on other posts), feel free to contact me on the contact form at the bottom of the page. A lot of the product types in Parasol Park are being duplicated at District Next (such as the bungalows, 6-packs, duplex flats, triplexes, etc.)
I originally thought that Parasol Park was bounded by Ridge Valley, Cadence, Bosque, and Great Park (going clockwise from the west). However, the original documents called for 653 single-family residences and 323 affordable apartments with names such as Luminaira, Luxaira, etc. (information located on other posts). That would mean that the community spilled over onto District 1-West, already set for 800 condominiums, a potential church and child care center, a civic area, and an SCE substation. Thus, 94 duplexes were pegged onto District 1-West.
Then, came the naming of the communities. As you can see on the first map, The New Home Company and T.R.I. Pointe Homes are being somewhat stubborn and are not releasing their communities' names. I hope to get my hands on them by mid-August. Similarly, I learned that there would be 727, not 653, condominiums in Parasol Park.
The first clue came from the Windchime development by Lennar. On a separate document, Lennar stated their intentions with square footages, exterior depictions, bedroom and bathroom counts, etc. That meant that Parasol Park included 2 developments in District 1-West. Then, no information has come about the luxury flats planned for Parasol Park originally. If you add the Windchime development's residences and subtract the luxury flats, you are missing 96 residences. The only confirmation left was to prove that the duplexes originally planned are still being developed, except there are 96, not 94 residences.
GIS confirms that the 94 duplexes are now 96 condominiums arranged in larger sets. Then, T.R.I. Pointe released information that they were ready to open 96 row townhomes in 2017. That served as confirmation enough.
Here are the product descriptions:
Obsidian
Lennar
77 Angled Green Courts
These residences are angled about their center, with 1 private outdoor space next to each residence. Angled to maximize views of the Bosque across the street, these were influenced by Playa Vista's success with their Woodson and Asher developments (they are now sold out; but similar setups are now for sale in their Everly and Marlowe developments). Clearly, they will not be as expensive as Playa Vista, but they are in arguably the best location in Parasol Park (where the single-family residences used to be), with the Yards Park and the tree as well as the Water and Wellness Park and the Bosque at Great Park surrounding the community. They are alley-loaded and are detached condominiums.
Julep
Shea
48 Bungalows
These residences are arranged in clusters of 4, with a split in the middle (2 on each side). I don't think there are true driveways for this community either, but I need confirmation, so don't get your hopes down. They are adjacent to the Obsidian community and share a nice location next to the Yards Park and Water and Wellness Park. To make it easier to visualize, imagine an Ellwood 6-pack without the middle homes. That is Julep. Detached condominiums also.
Somerset
Lennar
57 6-Pack Garden Courts
These residences are 3-deep and will have their entrances on a quiet paseo (as suggested by the word "Garden Court", and not "Motor Court"). GIS shows something interesting: that they are angled and crooked. These would be nice if it is true, to spice up the plain box-like homes for a change. These are the closest residences to the Water and Wellness Park (across the street), and border the northwest side of Parasol Park. Models and build-out phases (6 homes in total) are located in the center of the community, though, to provide better access during a model tour (unique for Parasol Park). Once again, these are detached condominiums without driveways, with garages off a motor court.
Jade
Pulte Homes
64 8-Pack Garden Courts
These residences are 4-deep and will have their entrances on a quiet paseo (as suggested by the word "Garden Court", and not "Motor Court"). They are located along the southwest corner of the community, along Interval. The name, in relation to its other jewel or precious stone-like counterparts, will appeal to certain buyers, as was the purpose of Jade Court in Cypress Village. I originally thought these would be built by Shea Homes, but that proved to be very wrong. As is Somerset, they are detached condominiums with no driveways off a motor court. About a third are in 8-packs, about a third are off 6-packs, and a third are off a loop-shaped alley with should suffer from parking issues, compounded by the luxury flats across Carmine.
Carlisle
T.R.I. Pointe Homes
79 10-Pack Motor Courts
These residences are 5-deep and are reminiscent of Jade Court, Luna, Citrine, and other communities built by California Pacific Homes in the past. Although the official title for this community is a "Motor Court", I still believe their entrances are not off the motor court. Each residence has a 1-car outdoor parking space next to the residence and the two residences at the end of the motor court are attached by their garage (similar to their California Pacific counterparts). Not all of them are 5-deep, but they are all detached condominiums. They are across the street from the Yards Park and close to the Bosque at Great Park. The big problem I see for this community is parking. With 10 homes off a single motor court, parking is bad enough. Yet, this community is surrounded by a future retail area, adding to the congestion. Any street scenery will be minimal, as these face the back of the area, possibly garages and unloading areas included.
Amethyst
The New Home Company
54 Duplex Flats
These residences are similar to Brio at Beacon Park, entrances in the front and side, a courtyard in the middle, one residence on each floor, garages off an alley at the back. These are the smallest residences being marketed (not built, because of the fee-building going on with Irvine Pacific) by The New Home Company, overtaking their recently released Cressa community. These are in the center of the community, with a few having nice views of a miniature greenbelt in front of the Celadon community. The New Home Company released information that they will be anticipated closer to $700,000 than $650,000, so these will also be pricier than their Brio counterparts. Hopefully, this means that their downstairs residences are around 1650, not 1500, square feet to leverage this price increase, because Brio is performing quite poorly right now in Beacon Park. That would mean the upstairs residence would be around 2050 square feet (the 400 square feet of garage space plus, say, 400 square feet of outdoor space in the form of decks). Some residents could complain that these are "apartments", which is somewhat justifiable.
Lanterns
Lennar
60 Triplexes
These residences are interesting. 1 of the triplexes seems to be detached from the rest, while there seems to be 2 courtyards for each set of 3 residences. They are located in the northwest corner of the community, surrounded by the Somerset homes, also being marketed by Lennar. The area on which the community is being built is not perfectly rectangular, so there will be a partial greenbelt dividing the community in half. A quarter of the homes will face Magnet and the Jade detached condominiums.
Celadon
William Lyon Homes
79 Straightened Townhomes
These residences are simply townhomes in groups of 3 or 4 (Rowland?). Their fronts are staggered like Rowland, so I'm not really sure what separates a straightened townhome from a staggered townhome... These are in the dead center of the community, with a small greenbelt on the side bordering Magnet (they should have named the street Parasol, after the community, just as they did Pavilion Park for Pavilion Park and Beacon for Beacon Park). The street names for this community are somewhat too scientific (Stellar and Menkar for astronomy; Cetus is a constellation for a sea monster, with Menkar being its prominent star), but they are better than Beacon Park's (Rake, Tandem, Follyhatch, Prone, etc.). They border Somerset to the north, Julep and the Yards Park to the east, Lanterns to the west, and the New Home Company duplex flats to the south.
Windchime
Lennar
118 2-, 3-, and 4- Plexes
These residences bear semblance to Rowland as well... They are arranged in groups of 20, with a looped motor court connecting them (traffic problems?). They are split into a northern and southern area, but both are across the street from Melody and the Water and Wellness Park. Also note that they are across the street from future affordable apartments. These are not technically "Straightened Rowtowns", but they sure are straighter than Celadon, so oh well... There has actually been more information released from the builder, such as:
- 15.5 du/acre (du stands for density units)
- Contemporary architectural design with simple design and shapes
- Horizontal lines and flat or very low-pitched roofs
- Residence 1
24 of the 118 residences (20%)
1,655 square feet
2 Bedrooms, 2.5 Bathrooms
- Residence 2
82 of the 118 residences (70%)
1,950 to 1,970 square feet
3 Bedrooms, 2.5 to 3.5 Bathrooms
- Residence 3
12 of the 118 residences (10%)
2,335 square feet (pretty large, thus also pricey)
4 Bedrooms, 3.5 Bathrooms
- Closest community to Beacon Park K-8 amongst the Parasol Park communities
Floorplans should be available a little later...
Expect a lot of noise from cars along Ridge Valley and the Cadence loop.
Sterling
T.R.I. Pointe Homes
96 6-Plexes
These residences used to be 94 duplexes, but they are now 16 6-clusters, or 96 residences. They are not as straight as Windchime, with a slight indentation in the front. I also expect a lot of traffic here, both within and around the community from the affordable apartments. These are close to the Water and Wellness Park, as they are directly south of Windchime.
-Unknown-
44 Luxury Flats
These residences are NOT being sold with the rest of Parasol Park (think Opus in Beacon Park). Coincidentally, Opus is also categorized as a luxury flat, but these are in groups of 4 while those are in groups of 6. Rumor has it that these are larger than Opus. They will face Great Park Blvd. (good idea?). The big problem, like the T.R.I. Pointe 10-packs, is the parking. I expect Carmine to be packed every day and road noise will be heard from cars, going in and out of the main thoroughfare to the future Great Park. They have mini-courts and 2 will border the retail area. They are arranged on the southern edge of the community, so delayed construction will not be much of a problem for the rest of Parasol Park. Walking to the future Base Camp across the street should be interesting...
P.S. Before they were known as "Luxury Flats", these types of homes were known as "Mansions". Ha. And they bordered the north end of District 1-South along former Trabuco. Ha.