Looking Up in Downtown Santa Ana
Santa Ana, once the financial and commercial hub of Orange County, has lost some of its luster over the decades as gleaming office buildings sprouted in cities to the south.
Some hope the city’s decision late Monday to approve construction of a 37-story glass office tower -- which, if built, would be the tallest building in the county -- will bring some of the old energy back to town.
“It is an anchor” for future development, said Councilwoman Claudia Alvarez, who joined three others in the 4-1 vote to approve One Broadway Plaza, which followed four hours of impassioned public debate. “There is a renaissance in Santa Ana.”
Councilwoman Alberta Christy voted against the project, and Mayor Miguel A. Pulido and Councilman Brett E. Franklin abstained, citing potential conflicts of interest involving the developer.
Opponents say the building is out of character with the city’s modest skyline and that the added traffic will endanger students at nearby schools. They have vowed to sue to block construction.
If the project succeeds, One Broadway Plaza will be an important new step in Santa Ana’s effort to revitalize its downtown, but it also points to wider development trends in Orange County, observers say.
“It really dramatizes the fact that Orange County is going vertical,” said Stan Oftelie, president of the Orange County Business Council. “It is about how we are reinventing land uses here.”
As the county runs out of land to build on, it is inevitable that developers will maximize space by stacking up floors, planning experts say.
One Broadway Plaza is among a handful of high-rises proposed recently in the county. In Irvine, a pair of 18-story condominiums is being completed and construction of twin 15-story residential towers is set to begin next year.
Michael Harrah, developer of the Santa Ana project, has said he plans to propose a 16-story condominium and commercial building in the city.
Some Santa Ana officials said they welcome the high-rise trend as a way to compete with other Orange County cities like Irvine and Costa Mesa for white-collar office tenants who can bring expensive restaurants and other businesses to downtown.
“There are a lot of people who look at Santa Ana as a place just for the working class,” said Councilman Jose Solorio during Monday’s meeting. “We’re more than that, and we have to continue to be more than that.”
The city has embarked on a gentrification program for its downtown in recent years that included the opening of the Ronald Reagan Federal Building on 4th Street in 1998 and creation of Artists Village, a bohemian district of galleries and lofts.
The One Broadway Plaza site, just north of downtown on Broadway and 10th Street, is in an area that some city leaders and residents hope will become a vibrant office district. The 518,000-square-foot building, which could cost $60 million to $80 million to construct, could house as many 2,100 workers.
Harrah, who says he already has arranged financing, now must sign lease agreements for at least half the building to qualify for a building permit from the city. Santa Ana also has required the developer to pay $12.7 million for traffic improvements in the area before construction proceeds.
The tower will take about 18 months to build.
Since its proposal six years ago, the project has run into fierce opposition from some Santa Ana residents who say a building of that magnitude simply doesn’t belong there.
The site is also next to the Orange County High School of the Arts and El Sol Science and Arts Academy, an elementary school, and some parents are wary of the added traffic.
Some in the council who voted for the project nonetheless expressed concern that their hopes for the project may not materialize.
“It is a huge risk,” said Councilwoman Lisa Bist, but “this can be a very, very exciting project for us. It can bring a lot of excitement to downtown.”
