Shopoff Realty Investments is developing the Uptown Newport Village project in Newport Beach.

The company bought the 25 acres on Jamboree off MacArthur eight years ago, Shopoff Realty Investments president Bill Shopoff said at last week's Bisnow Future of Irvine event.

Phase 1 will include condos, apartments and ground-level retail. The project will also include urban plazas and paseos.

The entire development will have 1,244 residential units and 11,500 SF of retail with two acres of park space at 4311-4321 Jamboree Road.

The development is a large hole in the ground right now, and there is a semiconductor chip plant still in operation on the site, he said.

"So we have to manage our construction around the existing chip plant," Shopoff said.

Since the site was built in the late 1950s and early 1960s, not all of the utilities are mapped as would be expected.

"There have been a lot of surprises, so we've been able to work through those," he said.

The Del Rey Apartments, also part of Phase 1, are a JV between Shopoff and The Picerne Group. The complex will feature 462 apartments and could be completed by late next year.

Shopoff expects the development will be one of the best rental projects in the OC. The idea behind it is to create an urban village and make it pedestrian-friendly, he said.