
Despite indecision regarding future funding for the Orange County Great Park, Irvine and Great Park officials are intent on finding ways to ensure the park will have adequate funding to continue construction.
At a board meeting this week staff emphasized that although the park’s journey to completion may need alteration, the goal—an impressive 1,300-acre park—will remain unchanged.
The park’s board is currently evaluating different funding options with the loss of redevelopment money on the horizon. The $1.4 billion in tax increment that would have been collected over a 45-year duration was a vital source of revenue for the alteration of former El Toro into Orange County Great Park.
Assistant city manager Sharon Landers said, “With the tool of tax increment financing gone, the question is will there be another tool put in place, particularly for cities like us that are redeveloping closed military bases.”
While some board members differ on the severity of the funding situation (calling it everything from a “bump in the road” to a “tsunami”), all shared a sense of confidence that the park would still come to fruition.