Yorba Linda to receive less than anticipated for sale of a portion of the property once designated for a Friends Christian High School campus

Yorba Linda will receive fewer dollars than anticipated from the sale of a portion of the city-owned property once leased to church groups planning a Friends Christian High School for 1,200 students from mostly North Orange County cities.

Some “concerns in the high-end housing market” and additional soil remediation requirements will result in the city receiving about $2 million less for the property on the north side of Bastanchury Road between Casa Loma and Eureka avenues.

The City Council recently amended the sales agreement with Pacific Cascade Group, which plans to build 23 homes on the southern 13 acres of a 32-acre parcel previously designated for the $53 million campus. The school project was dropped in 2012 due to funding setbacks.

The city now expects to receive nearly $12.6 million for the land, after deducting costs to deliver the property in a “finished lot” condition (rough grading, streets and public infrastructure), soil remediation costs, broker fees and closing escrow costs.

Current plans for the sale proceeds: $7.4 million for the cultural arts center being built in conjunction with a new library on Lakeview Avenue north of Yorba Linda Boulevard, $4.5 million for a Town Center loan repayment and the remainder for operating reserves.

The agreement includes a clause that allows a profit-sharing calculation should the housing market improve. A city-hired financial consultant determined the developer's revised offer “is reflective of the current fair market value.”

The council has yet to decide the fate of the other 19 acres, which are deed-restricted for public use.

Other recent projects, as approved by the Planning Commission:

--A daycare and preschool for ages six months through five years to replace the closed Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts store in the Home Ranch Shopping Center anchored by the popular Blue Agave restaurant on Yorba Linda Boulevard.

The remodeled facility, one of 300 national Kiddie Academy Educational Child Care franchises, will house up to 178 children and 21 staff members and be open weekdays 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

A prior preschool operated in the center for a dozen years, 1988-2000. City-required studies showed no adverse parking or noise impacts for the 13,300-square-foot facility with a 10,750-square-foot outdoor play area.

--A 7,300-square-foot space in the Yorba Linda Business Park on the north side of La Palma Avenue as the new home for Yorba Linda Church of Christ, after 50 years at a Eureka Avenue campus.

The location in the area zoned for light industrial includes a 1,605-square-foot main assembly area. Religious and other non-manufacturing uses are allowed in an M-1 zone under a conditional use permit.

The four-acre Eureka Avenue property, used by the church since 1968, was sold to the Islamic Center of Yorba Linda last year for just under $5 million, after the center's lease on a La Palma Avenue business park building was not renewed.