Santa Ana’s showdown over what would be the county’s tallest building comes to a head on Tuesday. But the real question is whether voters will come to the polls.
Voters in the city are set to decide whether developer Michael Harrah can build a 37-story office tower in between downtown and the Civic Center.
Harrah has raised nearly $367,300,mostly from the developer himself,in support of Measure A, as the tower ballot item is known. Opponents, mostly preservationists who fear the tower is too much, have collected about $45,000.
The outcome could hinge on turnout. A small number of the city’s 90,000 registered voters are expected to go to the polls in the special election. The tower is the only item on the ballot and may not lure people away from their work to vote, political consultants say.
The county Registrar of Voters didn’t have a turnout count as of Tuesday afternoon. A spokesman said “it hasn’t exactly been busy.”
The registrar had received 10,000 absentee ballots before Tuesday, the spokesman said. More could come in on Wednesday, he said.
Tower opponents gathered 12,700 signatures to force the special election. They’ve prevailed in two court challenges to the election by Harrah.
If Harrah wins, he still has some work ahead. He’ll need to find tenants and get financing to pay for the $100 million tower. He said he has interest in the building from SBC Communications Inc. and others.
If a majority votes no, the tower as planned will be dead. Harrah could come back to the city with another proposal for a smaller tower.
Harrah already owns about 3 million square feet of office space in Santa Ana and has restored several landmark buildings.
Early results from the voting are set to be out shortly after polls close at 8 p.m.
