The Orange County Great Park Plan will provide a wide array of active and passive uses, including a 2.5 mile canyon and lake, miles of walking and biking trails, a cultural terrace, Orange County's largest sports park, a botanical garden, and a tethered helium observation balloon that will be an icon for the Great Park. More than 3,885 of the 4,700 acres will be dedicated to open space, education, and other public uses.

MCAS El Toro was closed on July 2, 1999 as part of the Federal Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process. On March 6, 2002, the federal government announced that the property would be sold to private owners through an on-line public auction managed by the General Service Administration and would be subject to local zoning regulations.

The Department of the Navy sold the property on February 16, 2005 to the winning bidder, Lennar Corporation, for $649 million. As a condition of the sale of the property, Lennar Corporation signed a Development Agreement that deeded 1,347 acres to the City of Irvine for the Orange County Great Park and agreed to pay an additional $200 million for future development and maintenance of the Park.

The Orange County Great Park Corporation , a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, was established by the Irvine City Council on June 24, 2003. It is charged with the design, construction and maintenance of the Orange County Great Park, a 1,347 acre metropolitan park on the site of the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station in Irvine, California.

 All information/pics property of OCGP. For more information on the Great Park, please visit their site here .