This link may be old news to others out here, but I just found this Orchard Hills "update" website for the first time thorugh a google search.  I had never stumbled into it before when looking for information on Orchard Hills on TIC website.  I am REALLY anticipating Orchard Hills, found this site pretty interesting—- lots of maps and construction updates, etc.
http://orchardhillsupdate.com/
 And this seems like an older link to information on the community, back when it was still call Planning Area 1.
http://marketing.irvinecompany.com/entitlement/pa1_pa/pa1_pa_p1.html
 

Wow…...very beautiful.  So let me get this straight, most of the people on this site are "waiting for 08" and "waiting for Orchard Hills" because the bubble will burst, the market will crash, there will be tons of inventory due to foreclosures and prices will drop so that in 08, when Orchard Hills becomes available, you all will be poised to buy for cheap?

Wow…...very beautiful.  So let me get this straight, most of the people on this site are "waiting for 08" and "waiting for Orchard Hills" because the bubble will burst, the market will crash, there will be tons of inventory due to foreclosures and prices will drop so that in 08, when Orchard Hills becomes available, you all will be poised to buy for cheap?
Sounds like a condescending RE shill question.  More than likely, there are a select few who are waiting for Orchard Hills that lurk this blog…not all.       

Here’s a map from the site.  There’s also some good info in the FAQ: http://orchardhillsupdate.com/faq/faq.asp

Hbunny—- For me, the answer to all of your questions is no. Personally, I’ll be buying in Orchard Hills next year just because:
- I am not waiting for a crash—- I’ll be buying at least a 10 year home for my family, so where the market is does not concern me quite as much.  But I am also not interested in financial suicide, so since it is not imperative to buy this year, I’ll wait and watch.  At worst, prices will be flat this time next year.  At best, I might save myself enough to pay cash for that 7 Series I really want.
- Clearly (as we have seen evidence all over this site) new homes are the better bargain now. But I don’t really care for Woodbury (seems too crowded) or Portola (too remote). VoC is not even on my radar….It is just plain ugly with the hangers and all the high voltage power lines—and I don’t think long term values there will fare well because it is the less desireable part of Irvine (or Tustin).  So again, no reason not to wait it out another year.
- I love the location.  Northpark and Northpointe are my current faves, but with a newer and probably nicer community right across the street, why not wait for Orhcard Hills?  People on this board may be flaming me if I pull a 2004 move and camp out when the sales offices open next year (assuming the prevailing consenus is still that we have not yet hit bottom) —- but I have a really good feeling that for my wants and needs, everything is probably going to come to fruition in Orchard Hills —- so assuming I can afford it, that’ll be the right time to buy.

anybody have floorplans for Orchard HIlls?  if they’re good, i’ll wait for 08 too.  Woodbury floorplans are like dollhouses (not in a good way)!

Something to keep in mind, for all of you marking your calendars:
If Portola Springs doesn’t sell through as soon as scheduled (already signs that this will be a challenge), expect Orchard Hills to get delayed.
TIC is not going to throw more product on the market if the doldrums of 2008 have embraced the area.  They don’t have the same land carrying costs as builders, and their best strategy will be to hold back and wait for a rebound.
SCHB

Something to keep in mind, for all of you marking your calendars:
If Portola Springs doesn’t sell through as soon as scheduled (already signs that this will be a challenge), expect Orchard Hills to get delayed.
TIC is not going to throw more product on the market if the doldrums of 2008 have embraced the area.  They don’t have the same land carrying costs as builders, and their best strategy will be to hold back and wait for a rebound.
SCHB

Oh ! So that’s why some communities end up opening after the anticipated date.

CK, i’m with ya…maybe we’ll be future neighbors. Bubble or no bubble…the fewer homes per acre is why i’m waiting for Orchard Hills. 

<em><strong style=“FONT-SIZE: 12px; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: arial, verdana, helvetica, tahoma, sans-serif”>From the FAQ ..</strong>

.... Fewer than 4,400 homes are planned - reduced from the 5,903 in the existing General Plan, and dramatically fewer than the 11,800 units in Irvine’s original General Plan. This will allow for 3 units per acre - fewer homes per acre than Irvine’s original hillside village, Turtle Rock"
</em>

Orchad Hills does look very promising. My personal concern is probably the school district, seems like it’ll be half Irvine half Tustin?

Also like SCBH mentioned, it may get pushed, and I dont see why the plan of 4,400 homes wont change either. According to IrvineRenter and crucialtaunt, even the floorplan of exisiting project can and will be changed when things got ugly. I doubt that this will happen in PS or VoC but who knows for sure?

BTW CK - I agree that long term PS should be better than VoC, especially when Great Park is in place. But many people choose VoC due to less price per sqft, unique home style, and a more central location.

It seems that the Great Park project already pushed the current housing price in surrounding area???

Below is a recent article on the Great Park/Lennar project from the New York Times. I think someone asked for this once, can’t remember which thread, and no I didn’t do background check on the writer

[url=“http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A03E4D7153FF937A35751C0A9619C8B63&sec=&spon=&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink”]

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A03E4D7153FF937A35751C0A9619C8B63&sec=&spon=&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink[/url]

A couple excerpts about the housing price in surrounding area:

"It is impossible to avoid drawing comparisons to Manhattan, where the presence of Central Park (at 843 acres) has made the real estate around its edges extraordinarily desirable. The residents of buildings on the park’s perimeter, in turn, support the park, with increased property taxes and donations to the Central Park Conservancy."

"According to Mr. Agran, that set off an immediate real estate boom. ‘'The proposed airport had depressed residential property values all around the site,‘’ he said. ‘'When the airport was defeated, there was a collective sigh of relief. Housing prices began to shoot up, particularly as people began to understand that there will be a great metropolitan park there.‘’ "

I’ve held my breath for this long, I think I can wait for OH too!  but then again, if it is still TIC territory, it is still real estate exuberance all over again.

Red—- Yes, I might have been a little harsh in my characterization of VoC.  That was mainly for Hbunny’s benefit.  Good points regarding home styles and shorter commutes.

Is there any update on Orchard Hills?  I too, like the idea of lower denisity housing developments… I just am wondering what the $$$ factor will be… it seems that Spring 07 wouldn’t be too early to start advertising a phase 1 for early 2008 (or is it?)

I, too, would like lower density housing - and I am very grumpy that the City of Orange made TIC remove their low density housing area from the East of Orange project.  It had the potential to be a nice option (for those without school age kids, as the schools for that area are not-so-hot).

Mrs SCHB and I walked through Orchard Hills this afternoon, and were surprised at how far along things seems to be.
The apartments at the front corner are already getting roofs and siding, and all the slabs appear poured.  It definitely would be conceivable that some could be complete by the end of the year.  There are a buttload of apartments, BTW.
Further up the hill, lots of grading is complete, roads are being laid (some paved), and drainage and privacy walls are well underway.
It would be exciting if they keep this moving before PS and VoC are sold through!  Prices really would come under pressure.
SCHB

SCHB - Thank you - Please update your walk from time to time.

I spoke to a sales gal at another IAC complex and she said the first Orchard Hills Apartments (not known to be the official name) will move in November of 2007.  Plans will be duplicates of those seen at Anacapa & Woodbury Lane.  Not sure of the "amenity level" (countertops, flooring, etc).
Not sure how early they’ll open the apartment or housing sales center, but I’ll keep an eye on it.
SCHB

 I talked to someone at the Irvine home finding center and the first detached houses are due to have models in early 2008.  The detached homes will run between 2,300 and 5,000 square feet.
I want to know how big the lots will be.  I’m hoping they’ll truly be oversized.
 

That sounds about right.  The superintendant of TUSD told a group of parents that a K-8 school will be for sure open for Fall 2008.

It’s interesting that half of OH will be served by Northwood high, with the other half Beckman.  You would think all of it would be served by Northwood because the school is in the middle of the village.

-OCR

Waiting - According the Orchard Hills website, there should be only 3 homes per acre.  Now whether that is 3 homes per acre of all land in OH vs. 3 homes per acre of all land to be used for residential use is the big question.

OCR - Yes, half of OH will be in Tustin USD. 

For those that are interested, run a Google search for "Irvine ‘Planning Area’ 1 OR 2" and that will bring up OH info, including some fun old Irvine World News article about the schools.

I got a mailing today from Orchard Hills:

Open mid-2008

The first few home sites will be comprised of detached homes ranging from 2,700 - 5,000 square feet.

They also sent a return-mailer with a request for the "price range" I was interested in- The BOTTOM range was $1,250,000-$1,499,000. And so on up to $2,500,000

While Orchard Hills certainly looks like it is going to be a nice area, it doesn’t seem like "waiting" for these homes will do much good unless you are ready to pay $1,000,000+++

Send it back to them with the reply of "nuts".

After having been away from this forum for a while patiently "waiting" for Orchard Hills, I logged on tonight to share the exact same reaction to the Orchard Hills mailing that Blue Fire already expressed.  My favorite quote from the letter:
"....this historic and authentic setting will offer a lifestyle reminiscent of classic California communities like Rancho Santa Fe, Bel Air, and Montecito."
Clearly, I think this answers a lot of the questions we have had about how TIC could be considering marching forward with Orchard Hills in the face of the current issues with sales in Portola, Woodbury, etc.  Obviously they are trying to position Orchard Hills in a completely different market space than the other northern sphere communities—- Orchard is for the elite, not us young families who are looking for something in the $700-$800K range.  Very frustrating.  I guess those of us with "normal" incomes are all supposed to stay down in the flatlands in those kid friendly concrete communities like Decada and Bougainvillea and Bowen Court.  Someone else posted out here that those so-called detached homes were like living in the projects, with kids having to play in the motor court and so forth.  I could not agree more.  I’m thinking its time to start considering other options than Irvine if I want to achieve that goal of finding a newer, but truly "single family" home in my price range….

Mino2126 - good WWII reference.  But in reality, it seems like TIC is the side with the "seige" mentality.
I will for one, admit that I am a bit depressed by the opening volley of propaganda from TIC about the pricing range… I had been hopeful of a 750K - 1.5 range.  Looks like I’ll have to put another pin in my inerest rate voodoo doll… and maybe a match under my TIC voodoo doll.
Anyway to scan in portions of the flyer?  I’d love to see it…

I’m working on a scan, but am not sure how to add it.

Mino - your thought was equal to mine.  They are using these cards as a self-fulfilling prophecy.  If you want the OH info, you have to check a box.  TIC will then take the stats from the cards and show them to the builders.  The builders will then price the homes accordingly.  I’m tempted to write in my own comments that since Liar Loans and subprime are no longer available, they should price their homes more realistically.  For a $1.5M home with 20% down, a 30 yr fixed at 6% plus HOA and Mello-Roos, you could be paying 10K per month for housing.  Seriously, if I had that kind of cash, I’d move to Newport where I could get a cool breeze rather than a high fire risk.