The city’s downtown could be the spiritual and physical center of Orange County – this is the vision of Mike Harrah, the developer who founded Caribou Industries and is trying to bring several projects to life in one of California’s oldest cities.
One of those Santa Ana projects would bring a 15-floor and 171-unit apartment tower online, with a neighboring 10-floor and 75-room hotel, to the city’s urban core. Other features of the mixed-use project include 13,000 square feet of retail and restaurant spaces, designated areas for outdoor events and live music and public parking for 200 vehicles.
Harrah, who was honored last year with a Business Journal Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award, said construction on 3rd and Broadway Promenade would begin by the second quarter and could be completed within the next 24 to 28 months as reported exclusively in our Jan. 27 issue.
“3rd and Broadway Promenade is going to transform a dilapidated city parking garage into a vibrant, world-class high-rise apartment and hotel development, serving all walks of life while also supporting its community and the city of Santa Ana,” Harrah told the Business Journal in an email.
The 3rd and Promenade project is the latest development in what Harrah hopes could transform downtown Santa Ana as the place to be for anyone and everyone who lives in Orange County.
“3rd and Broadway is only going to enhance this reputation, offering residents, visitors and working professionals unparalleled access to high-quality businesses and nightlife. This project is going to boost the vibrancy of the entire area as never seen before in Orange County.”
Harrah’s company has already altered the Santa Ana landscape by restoring the former Santa Ana Masonic Temple as a performing arts center, converting the old Orange County Bank of America building into the OC Performing Arts Pavilion and building the Orange County School of the Arts.
Looking ahead, Harrah also hopes to bring nightlife, mass transit and a high-rise apartment building to downtown Santa Ana, helping with the ongoing revitalization of the area that includes a mix of eclectic retailers, bars and restaurants along 4th Street.
Still in the works is the long-awaited high-rise tower known as One Broadway Plaza.
Originally planned as office space more than a decade ago, the site near the Orange County School of the Arts has since transformed into a planned development of 486 apartment units across 700,000 square feet.
“From the 1920s through the 1980s, Santa Ana reigned as Orange County’s ‘capital city’ – the most vibrant and thriving place to be and be seen,” Harrah told the Business Journal. “With today’s Transit Oriented Development (TOD), it is once again Santa Ana’s time to shine as the city where people of Orange County live, work, play and excel.
“With our newest, ultra-iconic ‘downtown epicenter,’ patrons will be able to walk, bike, skateboard or take the new exciting light rail to their favorite restaurants, nightclubs and art exhibits,” Harrah continued. “This world-class, post-pandemic transformation is now under construction.”
Visitors of Santa Ana, founded in 1869, spent $414.7 million in 2023, up 9.2% from 2022, according to the latest data from Travel Santa Ana.
