It’s a troubling combination for Orange County: more people but less land available for new homes.
Three of OC’s biggest cities are taking their own tack in going after the problem.
Anaheim and Irvine are promoting higher density housing. They want to see more homes and apartments in commercial districts. The goal: get people living near work and to preserve traditional tract housing.
Santa Ana, which is expected to get a big chunk of the county’s population growth, is treating housing development on more of a case-by-case basis.
Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido has said he would like to see more upscale projects, such as luxury condominium towers, but not affordable housing. He said his city has its fair share of it.
Anaheim has been the most promotional. It’s created new zoning for some large commercial swaths to allow for housing. The changes were part of a big overhaul of Anaheim’s general plan approved in May.
“A lot of other cities talk about mixed use but don’t have that as a right,” said Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle.
Most of the attention from developers is going to the area around Angel Stadium, a region the city has dubbed Platinum Triangle.
Anaheim wants to see the area of older industrial and office buildings transformed to 9,175 condominiums and apartments, 5 million square feet of offices and 2 million square feet of shops.
The city has left Platinum Triangle’s existing commercial zoning in place, but created optional zoning on top of it, which allows for mixing homes with businesses.
Optional Zoning
At least three developers so far are set to take advantage of the optional zoning, city officials said.
“(Anaheim) created a market there,” said Pamela Sapetto, principal with Irvine-based real estate consultant Sapetto Group Inc. She said residential developers previously overlooked the area.
Windstar Communities, the residential arm of San Diego-based Nexus Properties Inc., is set to be the first company to put up housing near the stadium under the new rules.
In November, the developer began building Stadium Lofts, a $77 million project that is set to include 390 luxury apartments, 11,000 square feet of shops and a restaurant across from the stadium.
The company razed a two-story office building as well as an El Torito and a former Charlie Brown’s restaurant. It’s set to finish the first apartments by early next year.
In another novelty, Anaheim plans to allow housing on busy city streets such as Beach Boulevard and Lincoln Avenue. Instead of sleepy strip malls, the city would like to see two or three stories of housing with shops on the ground floor, according to Mayor Pringle.
“Up until a couple years ago, the city prohibited residential over two stories,” Pringle said.
Anaheim’s new approaches to housing have peaked developers’ interest, but whether people will move in is another question. The answer may be years in coming.
Irvine is developing a plan similar to Anaheim’s Platinum Triangle, but without going as far.
City officials have drawn a map indicating where housing would be allowed in the city’s business district east of John Wayne Airport. They are considering rules for developers to follow as well as additional fees.
Irvine welcomes higher density housing near jobs, but wants to prevent haphazard development from infringing on manufacturers and distributors in the area.
A recent upsurge in residential development has raised the ire of some long-time industrial users in Irvine. They worry new residents will complain about noisy factories and big trucks coming and going.
The conflict between industrial and residential users has been brewing for some time. Irvine long has planned for higher density housing in some areas.
Former Irvine mayor and now councilman Larry Agran previously sought to create a downtown for the city.
But only in the past couple of years have developers stepped up to the plate. Its traditional commercial district has become popular for luxury apartments and condominiums.
Two condo towers are under construction at the corner of Jamboree Road and Michelson Drive and eight more towers are planned along Jamboree.
Developers see the Jamboree corridor as a potential cash cow. The redevelopment of the former Tustin Marine base into houses, shops and businesses adds to the area’s allure, they said.
Irvine’s new plan, which it calls an overlay district, is set to limit residential construction to certain core areas. Zone changes outside those areas will be discouraged.
The overlay district is expected to go before City Council in March or April. Irvine has held three public meetings and one Planning Commission meeting on it.
Both Anaheim and Irvine are open to affordable housing.
More Affordable Housing
Officials with both cities have said they would like to see affordable units mixed in with market-rate homes. They want to move away from the old model of building cheap apartment blocks in limited areas.
Santa Ana, meanwhile, isn’t working on any kind of special district to mix housing with businesses.
One industry source, who declined to be named, said Santa Ana’s lack of overall planning is shortsighted. That’s because Santa Ana and other cities in central and northern OC have higher rates of births over deaths than in South County, where most of the housing development is occurring.
Mayor Pulido previously has advocated more urbanization for OC’s most urban city. He is in favor of higher density housing and has developed a reputation for pushing high-rise housing.
“I’m of the opinion we need to have open space or well-planned, high-quality buildings that will stand the test of time,” Pulido said during a previous interview with the Business Journal.
The mayor envisions growth along the lines of Manhattan,glass and steel office buildings next to luxury condominium or apartment towers. He said high-rise housing would work in areas with existing offices and shops, such as near South Coast Plaza.
His vision should work for some, but Santa Ana is a predominantly working-class city with more than 10% of the county’s population, roughly 370,000 residents.
A large block of the city’s growing population probably won’t be able to afford the new types of housing Pulido is talking about.
The mayor said Santa Ana already has more affordable housing than other cities in the county.
To be sure, Santa Ana has accommodated affordable apartments in the past, such as in the 1970s.
Some of those apartment projects tended to be smaller developments, without sophisticated management, sources said. The result: They deteriorated quickly and have a higher concentration of crime.
Some other OC cities, including Mission Viejo in South County, haven’t met state guidelines regarding affordable housing. They need more units to do so, but have rejected specific development proposals.
Late last year Mission Viejo rejected a proposal for 168 apartments targeted to low- and modest-income families after residents complained at city meetings.
Area residents charged the project, Aliso Ridge, would lead to blight and traffic issues.
