Orange County’s version of LA Live is coming to life.
Around the Honda Center, earth movers are busy on the ground. Construction workers from Matt Construction, wearing brightly colored vests and in hard hats, move between scaffolding and unfinished buildings across the dirt-and-gravel site.
Other crews are clearing future walkways and gathering spaces that will welcome hundreds or even thousands of visitors when the development opens.
On a given day, about 700 workers come in and out of the site, OCVibe officials told the Business Journal on a recent tour.
With less than a year until the first phase of the 100-acre OCVibe opens, new buildings are now rising around the Honda Center.
Two of the three parking garages are already operational, and the third, next to the Honda Center, is expected to open this month.
Under construction is a 50,000-square-foot food hall that will feature six bars and 21 “culinary voices” under the direction of Chef Remi Lauvand, who has been in the industry for more than 30 years, including as director of Operations Culinary at Universal Studios.
The market hall is part of a section called Katella Commons, which also features a public plaza, a 5,000-seat concert hall and new office space at The Weave. The Commons is scheduled to open in early 2027.
“Each construction milestone brings us closer to opening a district designed to evolve how people gather, dine and experience entertainment in Orange County,” Bill Foltz, CEO of OCVibe, told the Business Journal. “It’s rewarding to see years of vision, planning and coordination advancing in real time, and we’re proud of the momentum taking place across the site.”
Year-Round Entertainment Destination
Privately funded by the Samueli Family, who own the Anaheim Ducks, the $4 billion OCVibe is one of Orange County’s biggest and most ambitious projects.
Henry Samueli is the co-founder of Broadcom and one of Orange County’s richest individuals, with a wealth estimated at around $40 billion. He purchased the Ducks from The Walt Disney Co. in 2005 for $75 million.
The Samuelis are investing $4 billion into the mixed-use district and an additional $1 billion in improvements in the adjacent city-owned Honda Center.
Just a few miles from Disneyland Resort and the Anaheim Convention Center and across the street from Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center (ARTIC), the 100-acre OCVibe project is expected to reshape Orange County and mark a big change for Anaheim’s sports and entertainment area inside the city’s so-called Platinum Triangle.
Locals and tourists usually just come to the area to catch a Ducks or Anaheim Angels game, or even a concert, but OCVibe will turn it into a year-round destination with entertainment, restaurants, offices, public spaces and eventually market-rate housing, officials said.
“What once existed as renderings and planning documents is now something people can see in person,” Tim Blue, senior vice president of construction for OCVibe, told the Business Journal.
Olympic Deadline
Construction began in 2023 and the team is working toward another major deadline — the Olympics.
While the entire development is expected to be completed sometime in 2033, there’s a strong push to finish many areas in the southern part of the Honda Center, including Katella Commons, before the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Anaheim and the Honda Center will be in the spotlight when it hosts teams from around the world for indoor men’s and women’s volleyball during LA28.
What makes the construction of this scale impressive is the level of coordination required to manage the site while games and concerts are happening concurrently at the Honda Center.
“The scale and complexity of OCVibe are what make the project so exciting. We’re creating an interconnected district while maintaining operations around an active arena and surrounding infrastructure,” Blue said, adding that they are right on schedule.
Setting the Foundation
OCVibe officials said visitors coming next year may not notice some of the most difficult parts of the construction. Most of the first phase of construction happened underground.
“Infrastructure, utilities, grading, circulation and operational planning may not be highly visible, but they are foundational to how the district will function,” said Bree Carter, vice president of real estate programming and development operations.
“The best guest experiences are usually the result of work people never see.”
Carter said the most noticeable changes are still to come.
She said over the next six months, new buildings, public spaces and the district’s character will become easier to see.
When complete, OCVibe is intended to feel different from a typical arena development.
“We hope visitors immediately feel a sense of arrival and energy,” Carter said. “OCVibe is designed to be more than a place people visit for a single event; it’s intended to be a destination where people gather, spend time, and return again and again.
“This is about creating a new sense of place that pays homage to Anaheim’s foundation while planning for generations to come. We hope people walk in and realize this is something different,” she added.
OCVibe Seeks More Corporate Partners
When visitors arrive at OCVibe, they will notice large digital billboards on the buildings.
These static advertising panels will display the names of the $4 billion mixed-used development’s corporate partners.
The developers are seeking additional corporate partners and sponsorship as the 100-acre complex next to Honda Center continues to grow in Anaheim.
The project has already formed founding partnerships with organizations such as UCI Health, Rady Children’s Health, Cox Communications and Yaamava’ Resort & Casino.
OCVibe officials hope the district will be known not only for game days and concerts, but also as a year-round regional center for wellness, technology, education and hospitality.
OCVibe Looks to Make a Green Impact
For decades, the area around Honda Center functioned primarily as an event-driven district dominated by asphalt parking lots.
Visitors and tourists typically attended an Anaheim Ducks game or concert, then headed home.
Once OCVibe opens, that could change.
In March, the developers behind OCVibe unveiled plans for 20 acres of public parks, plazas and trails designed to transform the area around Honda Center from a sea of parking lots into a year-round community gathering place.
The open-space network will include three miles of walkable trails, public art installations and wellness-focused programming such as fitness classes, markets and live performances.
“From the very beginning, we envisioned spaces that encourage wellness, celebrate art and culture, and foster connection. Our hope is that these spaces will bring inspiration to Orange County residents for generations to come,” said Brian Myers, a senior director on the development team at OCVibe.
The first public plaza is expected to open in early 2027 alongside the Katella Commons market hall and a new 5,000-seat concert venue.
Parking at two of the newly built garages will be free.
The 20 acres are separate from Anaheim’s proposed $200 million OC River Walk, a 110-acre project that would transform a two-mile stretch along the Santa Ana River into trails, parks and recreation areas, including kayaking.
