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While the one-bedroom Veneto unit featured pale quartz countertops, stainless steel appliances and a simulated hardwood floor, other units feature a mix of quartz or granite, stainless steel or white appliances, and varying patterns and textures of faux wood flooring and carpeting.
Surrounding the units are the newly manicured grounds, including olive tree-lined sidewalks, evergreens, eucalyptus trees, lawn parkways and sustainable landscaping.
The units, as well as other buildings — which house fitness centers, clubhouses, conference rooms and leasing offices, —take inspiration from neoclassical architecture styles found in Italy and Greece, similar to other Irvine Co. properties at Pelican Hill and Fashion Island.
“Walking through the community is a lot like walking through a town in Italy or Greece built 200 or 300 years ago,” said Brad Neal, vice president of architecture, planning and design. “You see the same kind of variation and style.”
Each of the communities also features a junior Olympic-size saltwater pool, spa and outdoor lounge area with a fireplace.
“This is a comfortable kind of style that most people don’t expect to get when living in an apartment,” Neal said. “It really does feel resort-like.”
It’s the combination of all these amenities that sold Michelle Nikkhoo, a resident of another village community, Woodbury Place, on a town home in Cadenza the first day the leasing office opened.
“It makes you feel like you’re living in upscale home, not like renting apartment,” Nikkhoo said. “The community layout, the grounds, the business center, everything — they pay so much attention to detail.”
Nikkhoo and her family will be among the first residents to move into Cadenza on March 20. Residents will begin moving into Veneto on March 1.
Construction is still ongoing in some areas of the village. The last units are not expected to be ready for residents until about October.
Nikkhoo is not the only resident that company officials expect to come in from another village concept. On average, between 15% and 20% of residents at Irvine Co. villages have lived at another company-owned village previously, Baldridge said.
sarah.peters@latimes.com Twitter: @speters01
