Pros and Cons of New Irvine Housing Development: Ivy, a Woodbury East Neighborhood
As I wrote yesterday, Ivy is a new neighborhood in Irvine’s Woodbury East development. Some of the pros associated with this development are the following: Amenities include the Palm Court, which consists of a junior Olympic pool, spa, fitness center, tennis court, basketball court, recreation center, tot lot, BBQ; walking distance to the Woodbury Town Center; close to the Jeffery Open Space Trail, two neighborhood parks, and inclusion in the Irvine school district.
Also, Ivy is near the portion of the Orange County Great Park that is scheduled to see the most development in the next 36 months, and the Ivy development is part of Irvine’s Green Building Program (I don’t have details now on how this show up in the Ivy development. Perhaps this is a post for another time).
In addition, Ivy helps to provide Orange County with a smaller housing option–an option that was neglected in the building-boom years.
On the con side, Ivy is close to the 133 freeway. Various studies report that proximity to a freeway is not the healthiest of living locations, especially for children. Also, there is the pricing question. Smaller usually means more affordable, but, as I mentioned yesterday, the pricing for these homes is unclear. Will the price be right for the current market? Will these homes be affordable to those making a median Orange County income? And, for that matter, is it the right time for buying? Also, what the homeowners association fee will be is unclear.
The grand opening for the Ivy development is Saturday, July 11. For more details on Ivy development, see one of Erica Chavez’s post on the Irvine Homes blog and one of Jon Lansner’s post on his Lansner on Real Estate site.
PHOTOS OF THE WOODBURY TOWN CENTER AND THE JEFFERY OPEN SPACE TRAIL COURTESY POSTCARD US AND THE IRVINE COMPANY
Update: Apparently, the price was right. For more information, see this post. And for an update on phase two sales, see this post. For phase three information and updated pricing information, click here. sw 10-5-09