Ducks owners Henry and Susan Samueli had no set strategy when they started to acquire pieces of land surrounding the Honda Center 10 years ago.
Their aim was to keep the properties in good taste when visitors attended Anaheim Ducks games, according to OCVibe Chief Executive Bill Foltz.
The Samuelis “did not want somebody else doing a development in our backyard that we could not control,” according to Foltz.
Foltz is leading a team developing the $4 billion OCVibe, which they are calling the new downtown of Orange County.
They aim to turn the project, which surrounds the landmark Honda Center off the 57 Freeway in Anaheim, into the next big tourism destination in Orange County. The developers are aiming to deliver the project in time for the 2028 Summer Olympics, when the Honda Center will host the indoor volleyball competitions.
“We determined that there wasn’t any place where live sports and entertainment could be found next to an incredible array of food options, where I could live there or drive into there, but really just park once and enjoy the entire evening,” said Dan Young, the executive director of development who is known as the project’s “conductor.”
The executives exclusively told the Business Journal the background and the future of the project that aims to make central Orange County a top gathering place. The Business Journal’s annual special report on tourism begins on page 15.
How Much for True Destination
Henry Samueli, who co-founded chipmaker Broadcom and is chairman of its successor company, this past year became Orange County’s richest man with a wealth surpassing $25 billion. In 2005, he purchased the Anaheim Ducks for $75 million. The team is estimated to now be worth around $1 billion, according to Forbes.
The main question at OCVibe’s beginning was which properties to buy.
“How much property do we really need to create a true destination?” Young said.
Young said he and the planners found inspiration for OCVibe in touring other city hubs where hockey is played, such as downtown St. Louis, Nashville and Kansas City and studied what drew the visitors to the area.
“What was missing in them, as nice as they were, is that they were fractured ownership, so the owner of the team in the arena would be different than the owner of the market hall. So, it’s very difficult for the customer to plan their day,” he said.
When the executives studied the area adjacent to the Honda Center, they found a lot of parking lots for games featuring the Ducks and the nearby Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
“No other business in America works 140 days a year and survives,” Foltz said. “The real question is, how do you turn what were old surface parking lots that weren’t working for 225 days a year into something that are going to be fun to be at, and make it that gathering place 365 days a year?”
“We started to look at what kind of venues that we would need, entertainment venues, aside from the Honda Center itself,” Young said. “That allowed us to expand the number of restaurants that were in our original vision and literally double it from about 15 to 30.
(Then) we needed to have quite a bit of housing walkable to these restaurants and venues.
“The idea was to capitalize on all the visitors who were coming to the Honda Center,” Young added. “If we could get you coming to the campus half a dozen times a year, we win.”
Their first acquisition was the Arena Corporate Center, which is next door to the Honda Center and current headquarters for OCVibe. The complex is slated for demolition to make way for more retail, residential and office space.
After a dozen different acquisitions, the 100-acre site now runs from the ARTIC transit station to the railroad tracks on the north side. The most recent acquisition was Stadium Tower at 2400 E. Katella in Anaheim for $72.9 million, according to public documents.
The Key Advantage
Young found that OCVibe’s single ownership by the Samuelis would be a key advantage. It would allow them to remove any “friction” of visiting a downtown area by overseeing all housing, dining, hotels, offices, live entertainment and sporting assets as one entity.
An OCVibe mobile app is in the works where visitors can book a hotel room, buy Ducks tickets and make dinner reservations all in one place.
Foltz said single ownership would also help control and solve issues such as parking, transportation, cleanliness and security.
With the Olympics coming in three years, some parts of the development are on a fast track, Foltz said.
Later this year, the first part of OCVibe to open will be the parking structures in late fall. Currently under construction is the 5,700-seat concert hall, which recently had its final steel beam topping ceremony. Other facilities from the first phase – five restaurants, a market hall with 21 chefs and six bars, a four-story office building – will open in increments by the end of 2026 and early 2027.
As of 2025, a quarter of the $4 billion investment has been spent in the first phase, according to Young.
OCVibe is being designed by master architects Smith-Clementi as well as Fletcher Studio, a landscape architect, and Futureforms, an art and design studio known for masterpieces in the urban space.
Special Events at the Honda Center
Foltz wants to see the Honda Center become a notable special events venue where companies can book the arena for events like product introductions – a new revenue vertical created after the 2021 hiring of the arena’s director of special events Katie Pederson, who previously worked at the House of Blues Anaheim, under Live Nation Entertainment. Special events are now a $8 million to $9 million business for the arena.
The CEO is beginning to consider the center as a “strong addition” to the conventions business in the city, as well as an extension of the Anaheim Convention Center. The Honda Center hosted three of the largest live presentations for Disney’s D23 Expo for the first time last year.
Foltz believes the arena can be the place where notable companies go to “attract 17,000 people.”
In May, it was announced that the Honda Center would undergo a $1.1 billion renovation to complement the surrounding OCVibe redevelopment.
“That’s part of the reason why all that investment is going into the Honda Center, so that for all intents and purposes, the Honda Center will be a new venue as a partner tool,” Foltz said.
“When people come to Orange County, what we want for our economy is for tourists to come to the county and stay an extra day,” Young said. “We think that we’ve brought an extra day or two to that tourist’s day.
OCVibe’s Strong Bench
OCVibe has hired several executives with extensive experience in development and entertainment, including the Anaheim Ducks and Donald Bren’s Irvine Co.
Chief Executive Bill Foltz was previously chief financial officer for the Anaheim Ducks, Anaheim Arena Management and H&S Ventures.
Executive Director Dan Young was Bren’s right-hand man as president of Irvine Community Development Company, responsible for all residential development on The Irvine Ranch.
Senior Director Brian Myers, who is leading the entitlement efforts for OCVibe, was an executive advisor at the Irvine Co. and is the owner of real estate developer Nuquest Ventures LLC. He’s managed the development of master planned communities with over 50,000 residential units, 30 million square feet of commercial/office/retail, and public facilities such as professional sports stadiums and city halls.
Other top executives include:
• Chief Technology Officer Julie Sokol, who is charged with delivering “cutting edge technology” at OCVibe, was senior vice president of information and marketing technology at the Irvine Co.
• Chief Financial Officer Russ Burrows worked at Live Nation as well as the Detroit Tigers and the Detroit Red Wings.
• Chief Human Resources Officer Gina Galasso worked at the Walt Disney Co., Southern California Edison and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
• Chief Marketing Officer Tracee Larocca led brand experience at Taco Bell, including spearheading its famous “Live Mas” campaign.
• Chief Operating Officer Morell Marean was senior vice president of food operations at Universal Studios Hollywood.
• Chief Legal Counsel Katie Rodin has been with the Samueli family of companies since 2008.
The Timeline
2025: Two multi-level parking garages surrounding the Honda Center will open.
2026-2027: Opening of Market Hall, five restaurants, a 5,700-person performance venue, The Weave office building, Urban Park.
2027: Opening of new outdoor spaces South Plaza, The Gardens and parking garage A.
2028: Opening of a hotel, Golden Bear concert venue, Meadow Park, Neighborhood Park, South Plaza retail spaces, and a pedestrian bridge on Katella to connect Honda Center to nearby ARTIC train station.
2029: First set of residential units will open.
2030+: Opening of second hotel, additional residential units and North Plaza.
—Emily Santiago-Molina
Open Spaces
OCVibe is aiming to make sure there are plenty of open spaces for visitors.
Of the 100 acres, 20 will be dedicated to two four-acre parks, four plazas and a three-mile trail. The first plaza they’re currently building will be able to hold between 5,000 and 6,000 people at a time for events such as sports watch parties or the New Year’s Eve ball drop, according to OCVibe Chief Executive Bill Foltz.
“From a developer standpoint, building parks that don’t generate any revenue isn’t what most developers do,” Foltz said. “There is a lot that we want to get done before LA28 comes and we showcase OCVibe and the Honda Center to the world.”
The city of Anaheim is also studying a plan to spend about $200 million to turn about 100 acres of the neighboring Santa Ana River into the OC River Walk with sidewalks, a pedestrian bridge and a dam system.
