Costa Mesa's City Council voted unanimously to approve a large-scale housing development at the former Fairview Developmental Center, capping the project at 2,300 residences after months of fighting over how much density the 80-acre former state hospital site should absorb. The plan includes 920 affordable units set aside for qualified low-income tenants, along with 35,000 square feet of commercial space and 25 acres of publicly accessible open space. No developer has yet been selected for the project, and the plans released so far do not specify what the housing will actually look like.
The vote, reported by the Los Angeles Times, caps a fight that pitted the city's planning staff against council members wary of overloading local streets. The Costa Mesa Planning Commission had approved terms allowing as many as 4,000 units on the site, but the City Council rejected that higher figure in favor of the 2,300-unit ceiling. Housing developments of this type typically include apartment buildings and other multiunit formats, and the commercial space set aside in the plan may include stores, restaurants, coffee shops, fitness studios and childcare facilities, according to the project's draft environmental impact report.
Golf Course Was the Sticking Point
The adopted plan spares changes to the Mesa Linda golf course, which is part of the city-owned Costa Mesa Country Club. Per the Daily Pilot's reporting, a secondary access road would have cleaved the golf course had the unit count exceeded 2,300 — a detail that helps explain why the council held firm on the lower number even as state housing pressure mounted. According to Citizen Portal, the September 15 vote adopted Mayor John Stephens' compromise plan, which expanded open space to 25 acres and barred that secondary road through Mesa Linda without further council approval.
Community opposition to the project had focused heavily on traffic congestion and the prospect of dividing the country club, tensions that surfaced weeks earlier when the Planning Commission voted 4-2 to recommend certifying the Final Environmental Impact Report. Commissioners heard hours of public testimony on traffic, school impacts and housing density before sending the plan to the council, the same source notes.
State Pressure Loomed Over the Vote
Costa Mesa must add 11,760 residential units by the end of the decade under state housing mandates, a quota the city has struggled to meet. That pressure escalated in July 2026, when California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Governor Gavin Newsom filed a lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court against the city over its failure to adopt a certified 6th Cycle Housing Element, seeking a court order compelling compliance within 120 days, according to the Los Angeles Times. Hoodline previously covered the lawsuit over the city's housing plan and local efforts to scrounge up buildable acreage.
The state's involvement in the Fairview site dates back to 2022, when Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill 188. In an August 21 letter, the California Department of Housing and Community Development told Costa Mesa that its recommended housing element revisions were sufficient to comply with state law once the council formally adopted the plan, per the Los Angeles Times.
A Site With a Long Institutional History
The Fairview Developmental Center is the former site of a state hospital campus that opened in 1959 as Fairview State Hospital. At its peak, the campus housed more than 2,500 patients. Much of the original campus was transferred to the City of Costa Mesa, leaving about 121 acres in state ownership. The facility's closure date is disputed: the Los Angeles Times says it closed in 2022, while The Real Deal says it closed in 2015.
Councilmember Arlis Reynolds argued the timing of the housing push matters beyond satisfying a state quota. Reynolds said the proposal is timely because an estimated one-half of Costa Mesans pay more than 30% of their income on housing, according to the Daily Pilot. “Stable, affordable housing is foundational to having a better life in Costa Mesa,” Reynolds said.
Financial Questions Still Loom Over the Project
Even with the council's vote locked in, the numbers may not pencil out for a private developer. Real estate economic analyses reported in September 2026 indicated that capping the development at 2,300 units with 40% affordable housing might not generate enough profit for a master developer, since 3,500 to 4,000 units are considered standard for commercial feasibility without state density bonuses, according to The Real Deal. The state grants density bonuses to developers who include enough affordable units to meet certain thresholds, meaning the housing development could ultimately grow beyond 2,300 units through those bonuses even after the council's cap.
Separate from the residential plan, a 15-acre portion of the former campus has been set aside for a Cal OES Southern Campus, with the state separately developing the site. The Orange County Airport Land Use Commission considers compatibility with John Wayne Airport's land use plan, including potential height, safety and noise impacts. With no master developer chosen and the final unit count still subject to state incentives, the shape of Costa Mesa's biggest housing project in decades remains far from settled.
