Item 18 - Appeal Application Nos. 2023-02 and 2023-03 for Cabrillo Town Center project

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HISTORIC RESOURCES ASSESSMENT TOWN CENTER PLAZA � C A A DULY 2022 SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA J Company (California Secretary of State var.). His widow Josephine moved to Los Angeles to be near her sons (Ancestry.com var.; Oakland Tribune 1912). There was a great scandal in 1912, involving one of the daughters, who committed suicide after being arrested in New York for concealing gems in her hat to avoid paying customs duties (Napa Weekly Journal 1912). Project Area The current project area was at one time a portion of approximately 400 acres owned by the H & J Mabury Company, known locally as "The Mabury Ranch," between 1st and 17th Streets, Mabury Street, and Tustin Avenue (Santa Ana Orange County Register 1939). On the eve of World War II, the Mabury Ranch manager expressed confidence in the future of the citrus industry. He was repurchasing 10 acres of former company orange groves at the southeast corner of the intersection of 17th and Mabury Street (currently the site of an El Polio Loco restaurant; Santa Ana Orange County Register 1939). This gave the H & J Mabury Company, except for one or two properties, solid frontage of land from 1st Street to 17th Street on Mabury Street (Santa Ana Orange County Register 1939). A comparison of historic aerial photographs of the area shows two small housing tracts were built in the 1950s and Interstate 5, but it was not until the 1970s that the orange groves markedly begin to disappear (Aerial Photographs var.). Plans to develop the 174-acre Mabury Ranch were unveiled by the 0. K. Earl Corporation of Pasadena at a Santa Ana City Council meeting (Los Angeles Times 1970). Known as the "Mabury Orchards" project, Earl estimated it would take 7 to 10 years to complete, at a cost of $100 million (Los Angeles Times 1970). About 50 acres had been developed when the project was transferred to the Earl Development Corporation, a newly formed subsidiary of the 0. K. Earl Corporation, headed by Senior Vice President Donald A. McGilvray (Los Angeles Times 1971 and 1972). Don McGilvray (1924-1987) was an influential developer who went on to form Parkcenter Corporation, acquiring all the development rights to the remaining 125 acres from H & J Mabury Co. (Los Angeles Times 1975 and 1987; California Secretary of State var.). He had earlier expressed his views regarding speculative building in a panel discussion before the industrial development committee of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce: The investor should count on taking no more than 12 to 18 months to lease the completed building. In deciding when to break ground for a speculative structure, he advised that speculators "Pick a time of prosperity. If you pick the wrong business cycle, you may have no takers, and time, in our business, is money." Build all-purpose, flexible structures, 10,000 to 25,000 square feet in size. To allow for future expansion of tenants, the builder should avoid overbuilding his lot. He called for flexibility in leasing; small firms taking a short- term lease are often willing to pay more than a long-term occupant (Los Angeles Times 1965a). It was McGilvray who commissioned Don C. Fassknacht and Associates, an architectural landscape firm based in Tustin, to do site planning and environmental concepts for a 290-unit garden apartment complex on Cabrillo Park Drive at 15th Street; about half of the 11.24-acre site was dedicated to open space and landscaping (Los Angeles Times 1973a and 1973b). McGilvray and his team of former 0. K. Earl executives may be responsible for the high quality of much of Parkcenter's Play °touncif �07/21/22) 18 - 779 10/3/2023 8