Garden Grove Luxury condominiums are the latest step in the city's plan to revitalize the Harbor Boulevard area near the Disneyland Resort.

Irvine-based developer D.R. Horton is about six months away from breaking ground on three four-story towers that will house 220 condos just north of the Target shopping center on Chapman Avenue.

The towers, on 4 1/2 acres, will create a skyline with nearby hotels that will tie into the city's International West plan, which includes shops and entertainment venues to capitalize on tourist dollars from the Disneyland Resort.

"It's going to become a very contemporary and vibrant area," said City Manager Matthew Fertal.

This is the second approved high-density project in Garden Grove, which has followed a countywide trend of building up instead of out as a solution to the housing crunch. The condos are expected to sell from $400,000 to $500,000.

In July, the Garden Grove City Council gave the green light to Long Beach-based Urban Pacific Builders' proposal to build 120 condominiums in two 10-story towers, plus 380 townhouses, lofts and live/work units in several four- to five-story buildings at Brookhurst Street and Garden Grove Boulevard.

There also are plans for 88,000 square feet of stores and restaurants, plus parking lots and structures that will provide some 1,500 spaces for residents and customers.

Urban Pacific is finalizing the $25.5 million deal with the city to pay for the 16.5 acres known as the Brookhurst Triangle. Resident Verla Lambert said the reason city leaders are approving more high-density housing projects is because there is little vacant land left in the city.

"The only place to go is up," she said. "You have no other choice unless you want to tear down what we have."

Lambert worries whether city services -- such as schools and police -- will be able to keep up with new residents.

Mayor Bruce Broadwater said he doesn't see the latest condominium approval as an indicator that the City Council is leaning toward having more high-density housing in Garden Grove. Instead he said the council looks at each plan. This project fits well in what was a commercial area plagued with vandalism and problems keeping tenants.

"I think it's going to be nice," he said. "It's certainly better than what we've had over there."

But some residents living near the site are concerned with increased traffic, limited parking and the shifting dynamic of a city that has traditionally been single-family homes on half-acre lots.

"We're not going to know the real traffic impacts until the condos are actually built," said Joe Caggiano, who lives in the Somerset Place town homes, about 100 feet from the project.

D.R. Horton got the go- ahead from the City Council last month after agreeing to pay for a traffic signal on Somerset Street. The signal was in response to vocal opposition from Caggiano and other residents.

Caggiano, vice president of the Garden Valley Homeowners Association, said he is pleased about the signal but is still worried the additional cars pouring out of the condo complex will slow traffic to a crawl during the morning and afternoon commute.

"Our main concern was that our neighbors could leave Chapman Avenue without a certain element of danger, and a light improves our quality of life greatly," Caggiano said. "In the end this was the best thing for our residents."

(714) 445-6685 or vnguyen@ocregister.com