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Home My WebLink About00 - Matters for Future Agenda - CorrespondenceLPCWEST LINCOLN PBOPEBTY COMPANY Newport Beach, California November 28, 2022 VIA EMAIL DELIVERY.• CITYCOUNCIL(a�)NEWPORTBEACHCA.GOV Honorable Mayor Muldoon and Members of the City Council City of Newport Beach 100 Civic Center Drive Newport Beach, CA 92660 Re: November 29, 2022 City Council Meeting Agenda Item XIV Memorandum of Understanding for Airport Area Community Plan Honorable Mayor Muldoon and Members of the City Council: Received after Agenda Printed November 29, 2022 Item for Future Agenda On behalf of Lincoln Property Company and our Orange County based team ("Lincoln"), I am writing you with respect to Item XIV: Matters Which Council Members Have Asked to Be Placed on a Future Agenda (Non -Discussion Item) on the upcoming November 29, 2022 City Council Meeting Agenda. The specific question to be considered by the Council is whether City staff should be directed to work with the Airport Village Community Plan Group (lead by The Picerne Group) to develop a Memorandum of Understanding for a community plan in the Airport Area. Lincoln is a proud owner of multiple properties in the Airport Area that total almost 20 acres of land area and we are highly focused on owning, maintaining and operating "best in class, thoughtfully - planned" real estate. We are among the largest property owners in Orange County, with a 7.5 million SF+ portfolio of owned and operated properties throughout OC. We've done work with almost every City in Orange County, and have enjoyed a very productive working relationship with City of Newport Beach staff and leadership. More broadly, Lincoln is a 55-year old best -in -class commercial & residential development firm with offices in over 50 United States markets. In our history, we've developed over 125,000 multifamily units and have over $100 Billion in Assets Under Management. Mixed -use development, master planning and community -oriented development is the lifeblood of our firm. For more information on Lincoln, please visit this link. Additionally, Lincoln's two managing principals in Orange County, the authors of this letter, are both long term Newport Beach residents (Corona del Mar and Port Streets) who take pride in the developments we're apart of in our community, and we're as "Newport Beach local" as it gets. We are writing to express opposition to the proposed MOU Item XIV, whereby in essence, The Picerne Group, is proposing to sponsor and author a Community Plan for the entire Airport Area. The first step of which will occur on November 29 when the City Council will be asked to approve drafting of PMiller@LPC.com 1949.333.2114 (Desk) 4041 MacArthur Blvd, Suite 250, Newport Beach CA 92660 LPCWEST LINCOLN PROPERTY COMPANY Newport Beach, California a Memorandum of Understanding which would authorize the Picerne Group to take the lead on planning efforts, efforts which are almost always controlled by a City, for an area where Picerne owns or controls some of the properties in that area. Lincoln also owns properties in that area, along with other institutional and sophisticated owners, and we're expressing serious collective concern with the way that the MOU is being approached. First and foremost, we do not oppose a cohesive, thoughtful and impartially planned Community Plan for the Airport Area. It is in our interest as residents, and Lincoln's interest as a major Newport Beach landowner, to comprehensively plan the Airport Area. With that said, we do strongly oppose to that Community Plan being sponsored and de facto "controlled" by a private developer, Picerne, who would also presumably be a competitor and adversary to any project we (or any other property owner) would propose in an effort to stymie "for the greater good" housing development in the name of competitive posturing. There is a glaring and significant conflict of interest that would be bad for Lincoln, bad for other property owners, and could put the City in a challenging position. This Community Plan should absolutely, 100% be controlled and sponsored by the City of Newport Beach, its staff and its leadership, in a transparent and equitable way. That transparency and equi , will not be afforded if a private developer, Picerne or anyone else in that seat, has control. To illustrate this, take a minute to consider the immediate and serious problems that this conflict of interest would create: 1. Naturally, the private developer controlling the Community Plan preparation, with the ability to maximize the value of the property he/she owns or controls, will favor the properties he/she owns and controls, now or in the future, with the ability to pick winners and losers; 2. That private developer may then designate properties not under its ownership/ control for less valuable or less desirable land uses; 3. That private developer could then stymie the planning and entitlement process for other property owners, for the specific benefit of "speed of delivery and approval" of his/her own projects; and 4. That private developer would be granted an unprecedented and potentially anti -competitive control on the land use of other property owners' properties. This approach to creating a Community Plan, at the control of a private developer, creates a seriously concerning precedent. To our knowledge, never before in the City has a private developer been granted plenary planning authority over such a large geographic area. While we acknowledge that the Community Plan will be vetted in public hearings and focus group meetings, the reality is that Picerne will "set and control the agenda" and any attempt to say that Picerne will be impartial and equitable to all other property owners is patently false and not reality. PMiller@LPC.com 1949.333.2114 (Desk) 4041 MacArthur Blvd, Suite 250, Newport Beach CA 92660 LPCWEST LINCOLN PROPERTY COMPANY Newport Beach, California On that note, if Picerne is able to control this Airport Area, should the Moshayedi Family be granted planning control over the Mariner's Mile? Should the Irvine Company control the master planning of Statistical Area L1? This Picerne MOU sets a serious precedent for the City to consider; one with real future implications to which others are paying attention. With our opposition in mind, here is what we think is a better solution that will meet the goals of the City in an equitable and fair way: 1. As a major stakeholder in the Airport Area, we agree that a focused, cohesive planning effort in the Airport Area is best for the City. This could come in the form of a new Community Plan, Specific Plan or Planned Community Plan. 2. The planning should absolutely, unequivocally, be controlled by the City, and not a private landowner with potentially ulterior motives. 3. To the extent that the City would require funds to enable such an effort, Lincoln is willing to contribute its fair share. 4. We propose that the City form the Airport Area Ad Hoc Planning Committee that may include but not be limited to Councilmember-Elect Wiegand (District 3), major Airport Area stakeholders (e.g. landowners including Picerne and community groups including SPON) and a professional planning firm retained and supervised by the City, not a private developer. 5. All meetings should be noticed and open to the public. In conclusion, we strongly oppose the structure of this contemplated MOU. This Agenda Item asks Council to make a decision that, if approved, will create a precedent -setting inequitable and unfair outcome that will allow a private developer to place its own interests above other property owners, to the detriment of others, and could potentially create significant and seriously negative land use impacts to others. The City should be controlling the development of this Community Plan. Very respectfully, Lincoln's request is for City Council to instruct Staff to take control of the Community Plan effort, which will create the most transparent and equitable result for all stakeholders involved. [Continued on following page] PMiller@LPC.com 1949.333.2114 (Desk) 4041 MacArthur Blvd, Suite 250, Newport Beach CA 92660 LPCWEST LINCOLN PBOPEBTY COMPANY Newport Beach, California We are very proud to own property in Newport Beach, and have sincerely enjoyed our working relationship with City's leadership and staff. We genuinely look forward to continuing this partnership into the future. Should you have any further questions or wish to discuss anything I've written in this letter, please feel free to contact me anytime. Best Regards, TAa Parke Miller Executive Vice President LPC West, Inc. 4041 MacArthur, Suite 250 Newport Beach CA 92660 E: PMiller(a,lpc.com M: 949-500-1837 Omar Rawi Executive Vice President LPC West, Inc. 4041 MacArthur, Suite 250 Newport Beach CA 92660 E: ORawi@lpc.com M: 310-903-2596 Lincoln Property Company is one of the largest diversified commercial real estate investment and services companies in the United States, offering client focused, customized real estate solutions for our partners and customers. With its substantial local presence and history in the area, LPC is highly regarded within the real estate community and among its clientele: investors, lenders, tenants, and owners of commercial real estate. For more information, please visit www.lpcwest.com. Cc: undisclosed recipients PMiller@LPC.com 1949.333.2114 (Desk) 4041 MacArthur Blvd, Suite 250, Newport Beach CA 92660