California real estate giant Irvine Co. is in the midst of a building push in one hotspot for future development statewide: apartments in less-than-traditional spaces.

The Newport Beach-based company, which owns 125 complexes with 65,000 apartments across California, has 3,000 units under construction at three sites in Orange County. There are another 9,000 units in various stages of planning in Orange, San Diego and Santa Clara counties. Irvine Co. would rank 12th among the nation’s top U.S. apartment owners if it participated in the National Multifamily Housing Council scorecards.

Irvine Co.’s construction activity contrasts with a national cooldown in apartment development.

High financing costs, a wobbly economy, flat rents and overbuilding in certain markets nudged many other develo

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