Developers are planning a four-story condominium building next to the Metrolink train station in Anaheim’s The Canyon business park.
The project would be another in a series of homes going up next to transportation hubs.
A deal to buy a 5.2-acre Anaheim site to make way for condos still could be a year or two off, according to the city. Early plans call for 312 condos with work-lofts on the ground floor and a bridge linking to the train station about 60 yards away.
Drawings of the 748,813-square-foot condo building and parking are before the city’s planning department, Anaheim officials and developers said.
Diverse Holdings Co. of Costa Mesa and TR Co. of Newport Beach are the developers behind the project on La Palma Avenue, dubbed as “The Crossing at Anaheim.”
Building homes next to a train station is the latest trend in Orange County, where land for traditional homes is scarce and commuters find it hard to afford living near work.
“People weren’t willing to look at high-density housing until traffic got so horrific,” said Sheri Vander Dussen, director of Anaheim’s planning department.
The city also is working on housing near the train station next to Angel Stadium of Anaheim as part of the Platinum Triangle redevelopment.
The Canyon project calls for some businesses on the ground floor and homes above.
“It’ll have a lofty feel,” said Brad Barlow, chief executive of Diverse Holdings.
Barlow said he envisions 1,200-square-foot condos with about 15% set aside as slightly smaller “live and work units,” or lofts.
“They’ll be geared toward the young professional or first-time homebuyer, where you can jump on the Metrolink to go to San Diego or up to L.A.,” he said.
The draw for the developers: The Canyon’s base of companies, plus plans by Kaiser Permanente, an Oakland-based healthcare provider, to build a hospital in the area.
The Canyon is 2,645 acres and makes up 63% of Anaheim’s industrial space. The area is one of OC’s larger business parks, perhaps second only to the 5,000-acre Irvine Spectrum.
Businesses in The Canyon include Boeing Co., Pacific Sunwear of California Inc., Targus Group International Inc., Japan’s YKK Corp. and Universal Alloy Corp., part of Switzerland’s ALU Menziken Group.
The developers are working with the owner of a warehouse next to the train station to buy the site. The warehouse would be razed, displacing a furniture retailer and a maker of plastic and rubber products.
The sale, now in escrow, is contingent upon the sellers finding another building to buy. Barsky Family LP of La Jolla owns the site.
In seeking a new building to buy, the sellers are looking to avoid capital gains taxes on the sale under section 1031 of the tax code.
As it is now, The Canyon Metrolink station is small,a couple of benches and kiosks opposite the warehouse. On the other side is an office building that houses Anaheim-based Fremont Investment & Loan, the banking arm of Santa Monica’s Fremont General Corp.
The Metrolink station along La Palma just got a makeover, including signs touting The Canyon and information about the area.
Transit projects are under way elsewhere. Seal Beach-based developer Olson Co. recently broke ground on Founders Walk, a $90 million development in Buena Park next to a planned Metrolink station.
Olson also is building homes near Fullerton’s train station.
Santa Ana-based Urban+West+Strategies and Miami-based Lennar Corp., which is leading Anaheim’s Platinum Triangle development, are building condos across the street from the train station in Santa Ana.
So far, developers in OC have been able to sell just about any home, from traditional detached homes to high-rise condos.
One Boeing worker at The Canyon Metrolink station said he’s unlikely to move to the planned development.
“It’s hard to imagine buying a place here for less than $500,000 to $600,000,” said John Burgstaler. “It doesn’t fit with my retirement.”
The 59-year-old engineer takes the train from his 3,000-square-foot east Riverside home, which he said he bought five years ago for $280,000.
