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The second phase of Orange County Great Park homes opens this weekend as developer FivePoint Communities unveils its 1,029-home Beacon Park community in Irvine.

The opening is just the latest in a series of advances that show the once-stalled vision for the South County greenbelt is becoming a reality – though a significantly scaled down one.

Once envisioned as Orange County’s Central Park, the Great Park was touted in a 2002 referendum as an alternative to building an airport on the closed El Toro Marine base.

Voters chose the park, but the $1.4 billion project got delayed, first by the Great Recession and then by the elimination of the redevelopment agencies that were to provide financing.

Now FivePoint, a private company, has taken over development of 688 acres of public parkland, in addition to building 9,500 homes.

While Beacon Park is FivePoint’s second big housing project, CEO Emile Haddad touted several other Great Park milestones:

• Construction is under way on the Beacon Park elementary school, with plans to open both the elementary and a proposed new high school by the fall of 2016.

• El Toro runways at long last are gone, more than 2,000 base structures torn down, and infrastructure is going up for a huge sports park.

• Construction of a retail entertainment zone, with hotels and restaurants, could get started by mid- to late 2016.

About 28,000 people turned out in September 2013 for the grand opening of FivePoint’s first phase, the 726-home Pavilion Park at the north end of the former Marine base. The project sold out in 15 months, and all but two of those homes have closed escrow.

Haddad believes Beacon Park could be as big a success.

“If the market keeps on doing what the market has been doing, (Beacon Park) could be sold out in 14 months,” he told reporters during a preview on Friday. The third phase of housing could start a year from now, he said.

This weekend’s unveiling features 47 model homes representing 15 types by 10 homebuilding firms.

Prices will range from about $650,000 to almost $2 million.

Buyers can choose among options ranging from condos measuring just under 1,500 square feet to two-story houses with more than 4,600 square feet.

FivePoint is continuing its reliance on a mix of classic American and modern architecture, with designs ranging from traditional craftsman to art deco and Spanish modern.

Haddad, who grew up in Lebanon, brings his urban roots to the development, offering three-story townhomes and houses with rooftop entertainment decks.

Beacon Park amenities include a five-acre greenbelt with a community center, art house and a playground that includes a lookout nestled among three massive jacarandas.

The neighborhoods are designed to keep people connected, through trails, meandering streets, playgrounds and multi-generaltion homes.

“I’m a believer of what makes a great city is a mixing of everything, diversity,” Haddad said. “Our goal ultimately is to come up with a community that’s a mixture of everything.”