Great Park Neighborhoods

[Arman]

I watched them construct some of the current walls that have the stone veneer. Those were not black beforehand. It's certainly possible that they'll be putting up the stone veneer on the black areas, but that's not how it was done on the current areas. I certainly hope so, because the black areas are very ugly.

Do you know for a fact if the black walls are temporary? They look horrible, and they also look rather permanent to me. Why not put the stone veneer on the block wall to begin with? What purpose does the black serve? The landscaping is nice, plus right now it's probably the peak of dormancy for most of the trees/plants.

Not having lived in either place but having toured model homes in both, I prefer the variety of SFRs in PP, much more of a neighborhood feel. Additionally, I find SG horrible-appearing, landscape-wise. It is about as sterile (eg boring) as landscaping can get. Even other Irvine Company neighborhoods (Woodbury and Portola Springs nearby) aren't so monotone.  Landscape-wise, the only thing I don't like about PP are the black walls; I don't really get those at all, and how they fit in with the neighborhood.

Your point has been made.  Black = ugly.

Am I the only one who hasn't seen this black wall after having driven in and around PP many times? Where in PP is it?

There are multiple black walls throughout the neighborhood. Quite prominent along Ridge Valley.

Another reason the black walls seem permanent to me (and not to be veneered over with stone) is that the landscaping is complete in front of the walls. How much landscaping would they have to tear out/damage to place the stone veneer on at a later time?

 

[qwerty]

So pavilion park is on a superfund site and it has black walls. That's a great combination

 

[qwerty]

Part of the point I think some of those folks are making is that regardless of whether it's in process it looks ugly. Normally the walls, entrances and landscaping are all finished. That's where tic is a master. If they are going to rape u with the purchase price of a house at least they make the community looks good.

 

[qwerty]

The building around u continues when u buy new construction. What I was saying is that by the time the first folks move in TIC would have already completed the exterior walls, the main entrances, and most of the landscaping. Tic would not have a black exterior wall at this point. The exterior walls are one of the first things they finish. Could be pavilion park had a shortage of workers

 

[notTHEoc]

A

 

[bones]

[qu.

 

[qwerty]

its up to the GM of the construction project and the scheduler who sequences the activities in the project plan.  Nothing is 100% true because different people create the schedules even within the same company.


Some things are obviously done first - grading, placing utilities, paving roads, etc.


Other things are really based on how much the construction company trusts the people working the job to not destroy improvements during their construction.  They are bonded, but it is a PITA to get them to come back and fix it after the fact.  Why not just avoid the risk entirely?


For example, if they planted the entire neighborhood, its very likely many of those plants will get run over by guys in fork lifts, suppliers making deliveries and subcontractors coming and going in the sections still under construction.


Instead - it makes a whole lot more sense to improve the sections with the residents and leave the rest until closer to that phase release.  This is similar to the reason why you see certain tasks in a home being done earlier than others - you don't put down floors until after you have the majority of the contractors out of there (due to the increased chance for wear and tear).  You also don't install appliances until after the framing and gas / electrical are complete (due to the need to test them and keep them from being stolen).

just to clarify, im referring to the external landscaping. at our place one of the last things they put in was the sod in front of the house (between sidewalk and street) for the same reasons you mentioned.

 

[jamboreedude]

As Great Park houses go up, nearby county jail plans big expansion.

Irvine's protests of plans that could turn the jail into one of the nation's largest, and allow higher-risk inmates, have been rebuffed.
http://articles.dailypilot.com/2013...-20131223_1_jail-beds-musick-jail-county-jail

 

[test]

The building around u continues when u buy new construction. What I was saying is that by the time the first folks move in TIC would have already completed the exterior walls, the main entrances, and most of the landscaping. Tic would not have a black exterior wall at this point. The exterior walls are one of the first things they finish. Could be pavilion park had a shortage of workers

Is this 100% true?  I feel like they're still working on the exterior walls and one of the entrances at Cypress Village.  Have people moved in yet? 

Also, I know people live in Stonegate, yet they were still working on parts of that exterior wall not too long ago.

Bottom line is:  Moving into the first phase or two of brand new construction stinks.  You have to deal with a lot of moving parts.  But most times, you get better pricing in the first phase(s) so it just depends.

You're comparing a neighborhood of 700 homes with a community of 5,000 homes.  Individual neighborhoods within TIC communities are completed before people move in.

 

[bones]

..

 

[irvinehomeowner]

I think Laguna Altura was one of the few hoods that had mostly everything built out during the first few phases but that was a mostly self contained area so that would make sense to do so.

Other than the black walls (I LOVE BLACK... uh... WALLS!), Pavilion Park's few amenities, the pool, park and clubhouse were built out already.

 

[socal78]

Thinking Ridge Valley will have a decent amount of traffic once PS and GP get more built out from peeps wanting to avoid Sand Canyon. Having the turnaround helps.

Everytime I drive down Ridge Valley, it's the folks living in the poor man enclave of portola springs using it.

I agree.  I just drove PP and it looks tired/boring for some reason.  Overall landscaping looks cheap.  The exterior perimeter walls that are painted black also looks horrible.  Why didn't PP just keep using that nice stone wall for all of the perimeter of PP?  Average home prices in PP are $1MM but the neighborhood feels less than that.

It will be all stone. Some parts are Black now during construction period.

Do you know for a fact if the black walls are temporary? They look horrible, and they also look rather permanent to me. Why not put the stone veneer on the block wall to begin with? What purpose does the black serve? The landscaping is nice, plus right now it's probably the peak of dormancy for most of the trees/plants.

I was cruising down Irvine Blvd. a few minutes ago, drove past the wall, remembered this thread, made a U-ie, and went in to take some pics for my TI friends who want a frame of reference.

Yes, it looks temporary.

Here is what the black wall looks like now:

Here is the same style perimeter wall with the stone applied:

For the person who said they couldn't find the black walls, these walls are right across the intersection from each other at this park:

 

[test]

The landscaping in front of the wall is already done.

 

[bones]

..

 

[eyephone]

Based on the pictures, it sounds like much ado about nothing...I don't see an issue that is going to impact anyone's quality of life.


Its quite possible that the stone veneer for the wall is on order or perhaps the supplier is backordered, or that the subcontractor who did the first set used a proprietary color combo.


All supply chain issues that can be worked out without much real impact.


In the neighborhood i live in, they used 4 different companies to paint homes and several different sub-contractors to handle the framing, which led to multiple vendors used for paint, and supplies.

exactly, but you know, haters gonna hate.  that's what makes forums like this go round.

There's nothing to hate - no one wants to see a black wall. I think that person is just curious and brought it up. 

 

[Arman]

Thinking Ridge Valley will have a decent amount of traffic once PS and GP get more built out from peeps wanting to avoid Sand Canyon. Having the turnaround helps.

Everytime I drive down Ridge Valley, it's the folks living in the poor man enclave of portola springs using it.

I agree.  I just drove PP and it looks tired/boring for some reason.  Overall landscaping looks cheap.  The exterior perimeter walls that are painted black also looks horrible.  Why didn't PP just keep using that nice stone wall for all of the perimeter of PP?  Average home prices in PP are $1MM but the neighborhood feels less than that.

It will be all stone. Some parts are Black now during construction period.

Do you know for a fact if the black walls are temporary? They look horrible, and they also look rather permanent to me. Why not put the stone veneer on the block wall to begin with? What purpose does the black serve? The landscaping is nice, plus right now it's probably the peak of dormancy for most of the trees/plants.

I was cruising down Irvine Blvd. a few minutes ago, drove past the wall, remembered this thread, made a U-ie, and went in to take some pics for my TI friends who want a frame of reference.

Yes, it looks temporary.

Here is what the black wall looks like now:

Here is the same style perimeter wall with the stone applied:

For the person who said they couldn't find the black walls, these walls are right across the intersection from each other at this park:

The walls with the stone veneer were not black before the veneer was applied. I saw those walls as they were being constructed. That said, that doesn't mean that the black walls aren't temporary. It's just that the landscaping right in front of the walls is complete (and most of which would be damaged/destroyed if they were to apply veneer) and, again, that's not how the current stone walls looked before the veneer was applied.

 

[test]

There's no way they'd use stone veneer around the entire community.  Your HOA fees for maintaining it would explode.

 

[socal78]

I watched them construct some of the current walls that have the stone veneer. Those were not black beforehand. It's certainly possible that they'll be putting up the stone veneer on the black areas, but that's not how it was done on the current areas. I certainly hope so, because the black areas are very ugly.

Do you know for a fact if the black walls are temporary? They look horrible, and they also look rather permanent to me. Why not put the stone veneer on the block wall to begin with? What purpose does the black serve? The landscaping is nice, plus right now it's probably the peak of dormancy for most of the trees/plants.

Not having lived in either place but having toured model homes in both, I prefer the variety of SFRs in PP, much more of a neighborhood feel. Additionally, I find SG horrible-appearing, landscape-wise. It is about as sterile (eg boring) as landscaping can get. Even other Irvine Company neighborhoods (Woodbury and Portola Springs nearby) aren't so monotone.  Landscape-wise, the only thing I don't like about PP are the black walls; I don't really get those at all, and how they fit in with the neighborhood.

Your point has been made.  Black = ugly. 

 

[qwerty]

where is the kool-aid?

 

[homer_simpson]

where is the kool-aid grape soda?

fixed...