Plans Unveiled for $65-Mil Jewish Center

IRVINE, CA-One of the Southland’s largest Jewish organizations has announced plans to build a $65-million community campus here, on a 20-acre parcel on Bonita Canyon Drive.

Plans unveiled by the Jewish Community Center of Orange County call for a 120,000-sf community building that includes a computer center, health and fitness facility and an aquatic center. It would also include a café, a kosher kitchen, and an auditorium that could accommodate events with up to 500 guests.

The project would also involve the expansion of Tarbut V’Torah, a Jewish school that stands on an adjoining parcel. About 500 students attend the school now, but a planned 60,000-sf building would allow enrollment to double.

The new project will be called the Samueli Jewish Campus. The charitable organization founded by Henry Samueli, co-founder of computer chipmaking giant Broadcom Inc., donated the 20-acre parcel after purchasing it from Irvine Co. for $20 million earlier this year.

The school expansion project is expected to begin within a few months. The community center and related space will be started after additional money is raised, a spokeswoman for the project’s organizing committee says.