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OCVibe developers share details of how Honda Center area would be revamped
OC Vibe, a mixed-use district planned around the Honda Center, is intended to draw people for work and entertainment. (Courtesy of OC Vibe) A rendering shows part of the OC Vibe development which includes entertainment, shopping, offices and residential development around Honda Center. (Courtesy of OC Vibe)
By MALIA MENDEZ | mmendez@scng.com | PUBLISHED: July 8, 2022 at 7:07 a.m. | UPDATED: July 8, 2022 at 7:07 a.m.
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Entertainment, food and lifestyle are the three “ecosystems” developers of OCVibe say the mixed-use community proposed around the Honda Center will sustain. Anaheim planning commissioners got a first look Wednesday, July 6, at the proposal for turning parking lots, a nearby office building and other adjacent properties into a vibrant, 95-acre LA Live-esque district. “It goes beyond just entertainment, beyond just the Honda Center,” OCVibe’s Senior Director of Entitlement Brian Myers told the commissioners. “This is really about the urban master plan that many of you here on the commission care about.” A new 5,700-capacity concert venue, 30-plus restaurant concepts and two hotels would blend with the arena and thousands of new homes, Myers said. Hoping to combat the regional housing crisis, OCVibe developers are dedicating 15% of those residences as affordable housing units. A partial opening is envisioned by 2025, with the goal of completion by the 2028 Summer Olympics, when the Honda Center will be hosting indoor volleyball. OCVibe is the most recent development proposed for what is known as the Platinum Triangle – the area surrounding and including Angel Stadium and Honda Center – which the city has worked to revamp into an up-andcoming Orange County hub over the last 20 years. OCVibe is instrumental to that effort, said city spokesman Mike Lyster. “This is a priority project for us. They are committed, and we are committed as well.” In addition to making the Platinum Triangle a more high-profile locale, OCVibe aims to make art and entertainment more accessible for local residents, Myers said. Outdoor art installations will line internal walkways, parks will be “privately built, but publicly accessible” and parking structures will have no gate fees. “It’s meant to be inclusive, and we’re really proud of that,” Myers said. Planning commissioners were walked through OCVibe’s three subsections – Meadow Park, Urban Park and Wellness Park – each of which has a unique theme and design inspiration, enabling visitors to choose their own experience, Myers said. The Urban Park will be OCVibe’s vibrant core, with more peaceful spaces on either side. According to Myers, attendees of the development team’s 85 public meetings have been enthusiastic about the project’s commitment to diverse needs. However, they’ve also expressed their concerns, including potential traffic congestion.
Although OCVibe’s parking structures will double the parking currently available at the Honda Center, the new shared-use spots will be split among hockey fans, concert attendees and foodies. Add onto that, the developers plan to close a portion of Douglass Road to pedestrian-only traffic. Myers assured commissioners that OCVibe’s planners are working to offset potential gridlock. To aid vehicle circulation, they are securing permits to build a new road along the Santa Ana River as well as a direct ramp from the 57 freeway to their largest proposed parking garage. In addition, 80% of OCVibe’s infrastructure will be completed in Phase 1 of the developers’ gradual construction plan to minimize disruption, a decision Myers said was “intentional around the concept of making sure we maintain the fan experience as we’re building this out.” Parking needs will also be continually reassessed, he said, though OCVibe ultimately aims to be “a walkable transit community that gets people out of their cars as much as possible.” A proposed pedestrian bridge across Katella Avenue will support OCVibe’s 3-mile “community building-type trail system” and boost the use of the ARTIC transit station, Myers said. ARTIC has underperformed since its opening in 2014, Lyster said, so the city hopes OCVibe will help change that. Anaheim Ducks owners Henry and Susan Samueli’s organization that manages the Honda Center took over operations at ARTIC as part of a 2018 agreement with the city that extended their use of the arena to 2048, sold them 14 acres of parking lots around it and tweaked the terms of a profit-sharing deal. That deal, along with their development team’s private property investments around the arena and ARTIC, helped pave the way for OCVibe. A laundry list of touted public benefits from the project includes 10,000 new construction jobs, 3,000 permanent jobs upon operation, more than $400 million in annual recurring economic impact and a revenue stream to maintain and improve the Honda Center at no cost to taxpayers. OCVibe is expected to return to the Anaheim Planning Commission for a vote by September, and to progress to the City Council by October. If that schedule is maintained, Lyster said Myers’ projection for breaking ground by end of year may not be far off.
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