News

UC Irvine, City Settle Lawsuit Over New Medical Complex

Wednesday, March 03, 2021

(Orange County Register) Making good on earlier comments about their ability to work together, the City of Irvine and its resident university have settled a legal fight over UC Irvine’s plans to build a hospital and medical center on the edge of the campus. The $1 billion medical complex near Birch Street and Jamboree Road will include a 144-bed hospital as well as a Center for Children’s Health, medical offices and urgent care. City officials said the jobs and better health care access from the project would be welcome, but they had concerns about traffic, construction noise and added burdens on the city’s police an...

City of Irvine Launches $17.7 Million Emergency Rental Assistance Program

Tuesday, March 02, 2021

To continue to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on Irvine’s residential renters, the City of Irvine, in partnership with Orange County United Way, will be allocating approximately $17.7 million for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP). The program is funded through a combination of federal and state dollars. The program will provide funding for unpaid rent from April 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021. For eligible households, the program will pay for up to 80% of unpaid rent if the landlord agrees to forgive the remaining 20%. In cases where landlords are unwilling to participate, 25% of the unpaid rent wil...

IVC Names Performing Arts Center Main Stage for Irvine Resident

Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Irvine Valley College (IVC) and the Irvine Valley College Foundation are proud to announce the first-ever naming gift for the IVC Performing Arts Center. Masoud Rezanoor, an Irvine resident, pledged $250,000 to provide enrichment opportunities for the music department at IVC. To acknowledge Rezanoor’s generosity, the Main Stage of the Performing Arts Center will be renamed the Rezanoor Stage. Rezanoor is a longtime Irvine resident and retired CPA who loves the community he lives in. His connection with IVC first started when his daughter attended and graduated with her Associate in Arts degree in 2000. When the COVID-19 stay-at-home mandate wa...

Bugatti Getting its Own Irvine Showroom for $2 Million Veyron, $3 Million Chiron

Friday, February 19, 2021

(Orange County Register) Bugatti Newport Beach in Irvine is expanding its operation with a 1,500-square-foot showroom and service center that will showcase some of the French automaker’s high-performance and ultra-pricey vehicles. The dealership at 44 Auto Center Drive recently broke ground on the $2 million expansion, which is expected to be completed in late 2021 or early 2022. The showroom will feature a “configuration table” where buyers can order custom options in regard to color, trim, and other details. “There was no Bugatti franchise in Orange County before, but we’ve been awarded the franchise so we’re building a dedicated showroom at this address,” said Pietr...

Homes Priced From Low-$400,000 Coming to Irvine

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

(Orange County Register) Irvine will get 68 affordable homes for income-qualified buyers at roughly half the price of a typical residence in the city. Irvine Community Land Trust started construction on its first ownership project — the Sage Park development on 4 acres north of Irvine Blvd. in the Portola Springs neighborhood. The nonprofit housing developer’s attached-home project, expected to be ready in 2022, will have 16 units with two bedrooms, 36 with three bedrooms and 16 with four. The trust estimates pricing to start “in the low-$400,000s.” As a comparison, the typical Irvine home is valued at $933,518 by Zillow — up 4.6% i...

Free 2020 Tax-Preparation Services Available in Irvine

Friday, February 05, 2021

The City of Irvine, in partnership with Orange County United Way (OCUW), is offering free tax preparation services to taxpayers who earned less than $60,000 in 2020. Qualifying taxpayers who live, work, or attend school in Irvine can receive help filing their taxes from IRS-trained and certified volunteers, who will also assist eligible taxpayers in applying for tax credits, including the state and federal Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC). Free tax-preparation services are available at Cypress Community Park, 255 Visions in Irvine, from Feb. 10 through April 7, 2021, on Wednesdays between 12–7 p.m. An appointment is required; no walk-ins will b...

Progress Made by Great Park Developer FivePoint on Wildlife Corridor Connecting O.C. Coast with Cleveland National Forest

Sunday, January 31, 2021

(Los Angeles Times) During the Laguna Beach fire of 1993, many animals had difficulty retreating from the massive blaze due to a lack of open space. About 20% of Orange County’s gnatcatchers, an endangered songbird, were killed in the fire, which caused devastating damage, burning 16,000 acres and hundreds of homes. Then, in the wake of the fire, animals from the surrounding habitat could not access coastal areas to replenish their populations. Nearly three decades later, some progress has been made on a wildlife corridor funded, designed and constructed by Great Park developer FivePoint Holdings. The company is working alongside the environmental group Laguna Greenbelt, whic...

City of Irvine Cares Campaign

Thursday, January 21, 2021

The City of Irvine launched Irvine Cares, the first initiative of Mayor Farrah N. Khan’s newly assembled COVID-19 Task Force. The campaign invites the public to slow the spread of COVID-19 by pledging support of mitigation measures which includes acting as an advocate to ensure the health and safety of Irvine’s most vulnerable. Through Irvine Cares, community members pledge to protect one another by wearing a mask, washing their hands frequently, practicing social distancing, and staying home when sick. They commit to practicing kindness and good judgment by being respectful of others, especially those who are at increased risk for severe illness, and to be an advocate by promoting best practices in preventing COVID-19. Community members can take the pledge online at cityofirvine.org/irvinecares or download a pledge card and mai...

Irvine Launches Third District Small Business Support Program

Tuesday, January 19, 2021

The City of Irvine received $722,000 from the County of Orange to assist small businesses affected by COVID-19 within the Irvine portion of Orange County’s Third Supervisorial District. One-time grants up to $5,000 are available to eligible small businesses to help cover the costs of business interruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and related stay-at-home orders. To qualify, the business must be in the 3rd District of Irvine and employ 10 or fewer full-time-equivalent employees. Additionally, businesses must not have received grant funding through the City of Irvine Small Business Support Program from June 2020, and must have an active City of Irvine Business License tha...

Mayor Farrah N. Khan’s COVID-19 Task Force Launches First Initiative

Saturday, January 09, 2021

Mayor Farrah N. Khan Announces COVID-19 and Business Reopening Task Forces

Tuesday, December 15, 2020

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, Irvine Mayor Farrah N. Khan has announced the formation of COVID-19 and Business Reopening task forces to guide the city in 2021 and beyond. The City, in partnership with key business leaders, will coordinate establishment of the Business Reopening Task Force to assist the Mayor in her efforts to help promote small business growth, support local entrepreneurship, target industry relocation within City boundaries, and assist the City in remaining responsive to the business community. Additionally, it advises the Mayor on topics where the City has the ability to shape issues affecting the business community. The Taskforce provides a foru...

Police Chief Mike Hamel and City of Irvine Employees Honored for Years of Service

Monday, October 26, 2020

The Irvine City Council recognized six employees for 25, 30, and 35 years of dedicated service to the City. City of Irvine employees work to keep the community safe, reduce Irvine’s carbon footprint, keep traffic flowing, and support events and activities for residents and visitors. Police Chief Mike Hamel, Irvine Police Department 25 Years of Service Irvine Police Chief Mike Hamel is a 27-year law enforcement veteran who has been with the Irvine Police Department since 1995. He is the first Irvine Police Chief to rise through the ranks from police officer to Chief. Chief Hamel began his law enforcement career in 199...

Irvine is Safest City of its Size for 15th Year

Tuesday, September 29, 2020

For the 15th consecutive year, Irvine is the Safest City of its size for violent crime, according to FBI data for 2019. Information released on Sept. 28 shows Irvine has the lowest rate of violent crime per capita of any city in the nation with a population of 250,000 or more. Irvine is also the Safest City of its size for violent crime for the first half of 2020, according to preliminary FBI data released earlier this month. The FBI’s Annual Uniform Crime Report measures crime, which includes murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, auto theft, and arson. Irvine Mayor Christina Shea congratulated the Irvine Police Departmen...

Best of Orange County 2020: Irvine Voted Best City to Live In

Saturday, September 26, 2020

(Orange County Register) For the past 24 years, Best of Orange County voters have been asked to name the county’s best city to live in. Irvine has never failed to place in the top 3, and it has been the top vote recipient for 13 of those years and ranked second for 10 more. Many reasons are cited for Irvine’s livability. It routinely ranks among the nation’s safest cities—including being ranked "America's Safest Big City" by the FBI crime ranking of cities over 100,000 in population every year since 2005—and has recorded the lowest per capita crime rate for cities with 250,000 o...

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