Anyone that’s passed through the Tustin/Irvine real estate area on the 5, 405, or 55 freeways has probably seen the two huge blimp hangars on the old Tustin Marine Air Base—it’s sort of hard not to see them. Well, the base is closed now, and in its place is Tustin Legacy, an under-construction 1,600-acre complex of homes, parks, shopping, and entertainment.

Ultimately, there will be some 4,600 new Tustin homes for sale. Many of them are already complete, including homes in Tustin Field I, Tustin Field II, and Columbus Grove. The hope of the housing developers is to build medium density, pedestrian friendly neighborhoods. To this end, there are a large variety of home styles in varying price ranges, including 160 units (15%) slated for low-income home buyers. Just to give you an idea the wide variety of home choices, here’s the break down of homes being built in Tustin Field I:

• 126 Detached Cluster Homes
• 52 Paired Homes
• 58 Row Town Homes
• 140 Clustered Homes

In addition to all these homes, construction is underway on the District, an 87-acre commercial center. The center will have three zones: a lifestyle and entertainment village, anchored by an AMC movie theater; a promotional retail district with shops, stores, and a gourmet grocery store; and a restaurant cluster. All three zones will have pedestrian accessible walkways. The center—or a good portion of the stores and restaurants, at least—should be open this June!
Perhaps the coolest part of Tustin Legacy will be the two-mile linear park running diagonally through the entire community. The park will have walking spaces, playgrounds, nature areas, and sports facilities. The park will serve well to tie together the entire complex, and as the planners say, preserve “the unique and storied history of the Air Station, the historic core of Tustin, and the nostalgic past of the agriculture industry in the region.”

Three brand-new schools are also in the works for the complex: two elementary schools and one high school. As for the blimp hangars themselves, one will be raised to make room for the planned development, and the other will be turned into a sports complex and veteran’s memorial.

All in all, Tustin real estate Legacy looks to be a beautiful place to call home and a very promising Orange County real estate opportunity.