Overview
About Riverbend and Del Rio
Riverbend and Del Rio is the newest and the tightest of the 22 Orange communities on this site, 599 addresses on 61 acres across 633 recorded parcels and 0.71 miles of public street. The median parcel measures 0.027 acres, which is small lot ground by any standard in Orange, and the general plan divides the boundary between 28 acres of low medium residential, 16 acres of medium density and 17 acres of open space. All 61 zoned acres are Planned Community.
Steve Ambriz Memorial Park sits inside the boundary at 610 Riverbend Parkway, 10 acres the city records as active use, and it is the largest park inside any of these 22 boundaries. The Santa Ana River Greenbelt, 2,017 acres on the county's park layer, touches the boundary on the far side. The plan was designed with thirteen features buffering the neighborhood from the R. J. Noble aggregate facilities that still operate nearby, among them a separation of at least 260 feet, dense screen planting and perimeter fencing. The street names are drawn almost entirely from trees, Cork Tree, Honey Tree, Juneberry, Linden, Mountain Holly, Spicewood, Sugarberry, Torrey Pine and Tulip Tree among them. Every parcel here is assigned to Fletcher Mandarin Language and GATE Academy, Cerro Villa Middle and Villa Park High.
View available homes in Riverbend and Del RioHistory
How Riverbend and Del Rio was built
What the river left behind on this bend was sand and gravel, and for decades that is what came out of the ground here. This was an extraction site, and the pit was still being filled with imported soil when the plan to build houses on it was heard. It was not even inside the city: it sat in a county island, and about 73 acres had to be annexed into Orange before anything could happen.
The houses came quickly for a site that size. A pre-development agreement passed the city council in August 2002, the project was heard in spring 2004 and the development agreement adopted on 25 May 2004, for about 716 homes at just under ten to the acre with a 10.65 acre public park and seven acres of permanent open space, west of Glassell Street and north of Lincoln Avenue against the river channel. Building ran through 2006 and 2007, and the park, named for the councilman Steve Ambriz, opened in 2012.
By the Numbers
Riverbend and Del Rio by the numbers
Lifestyle
The Riverbend and Del Rio lifestyle
The city keeps one park inside this boundary: Steve Ambriz Memorial Park at 610 Riverbend Pkwy, 10 acres of active park on the city's own record.
Beyond the city's own parks, Santa Ana River Greenbelt touches the boundary and covers 2,017 acres in the county's park layer.
Schools
Schools serving Riverbend and Del Rio
Orange publishes the assigned school on every parcel in the city, which means the campuses below are the ones the city itself sends this boundary to rather than the ones that happen to be nearest. The city's parcel record assigns every parcel here to Fletcher Mandarin Language & GATE Academy for elementary, every parcel here to Cerro Villa Middle for middle and every parcel here to Villa Park High for high. Enrollment is the 2024-25 federal count.
9-12 · 2,023 students
7-8 · 747 students
K-6 · 493 students
FAQs
Common questions about Riverbend and Del Rio
What was here before the houses?
A sand and gravel pit. The city's staff report records that the site was formerly used for the extraction of sand and gravel and that the applicant was still filling the extraction pit with imported soils when the application was heard. Its general plan designation before the change was Resource Area, meaning mineral extraction land.
When was Riverbend and Del Rio built?
The development agreement was adopted on 25 May 2004 and recorded that July. The county recorded the three tract maps in December 2005, and the city's plan index dates the build out planning area by planning area from 17 August 2006 through 12 June 2007, with the park on Lot A dated 1 March 2011.
Is the neighborhood next to an industrial site?
Yes, and the plan was written around it. The approval built in thirteen design features to buffer the housing from the R. J. Noble aggregate facilities, including a separation of at least 260 feet, dense screen planting and perimeter fencing. The final environmental impact report carried 41 mitigation measures.
Is there a park?
Yes. The city's facility layer records Steve Ambriz Memorial Park inside the boundary at 610 Riverbend Parkway, 10 acres, listed as active use, and the approved plan called for a 10.65 acre public park. The Santa Ana River Greenbelt, which the county measures at 2,017 acres, touches the boundary as well.
Which schools serve Riverbend and Del Rio?
Orange publishes an assigned school on every parcel, and all 633 parcels here are assigned to Fletcher Mandarin Language and GATE Academy, which enrolled 493 students on the 2024-25 federal count, Cerro Villa Middle at 747 and Villa Park High at 2,023.