One of the largest developments in decades planned for the city of Santa Ana is moving closer to reality.
The city’s planning commission on Aug. 12 unanimously recommended that its City Council approve Related Bristol, a nearly 42-acre project proposed along Bristol Street, on the other side of Sunflower Avenue as South Coast Plaza.
Irvine’s Related California is heading the $3 billion mixed-use development, which has been in the works for about two years.
The developer has spent that time holding numerous public hearings with local constituencies, to build momentum for what’s expected to be “the most consequential private investment in the history of Santa Ana,” Related Executive Vice President Steven Oh previously told the Business Journal.
2026 Start
Related Bristol would see the overhaul of the existing 460,000-square-foot Metro Town Square shopping center, with a goal of turning the site into a “new gateway into Santa Ana.”
The developer is seeking to build up to 3,750 residential units, up to 350,000 square feet of commercial space, 250 hotel rooms and 200 senior care units, including 6,520 onsite parking spaces and 13.1 acres of onsite open space.
Early plans call for construction to begin in 2026 and continue in phases, with completion projected around 2036, assuming the project get the city’s approval.
A city council hearing on the project is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 17.
Ground Lease
Related has agreed to take on a 99-year ground lease for the Metro Town Square shopping center, which has been owned by the Callens family for more than a century.
The site, once used as a lima bean and sugar beets farm, is now overseen by three arms of the family who will retain ownership of the land following the Related-overseen redevelopment.
It’s among the larger mixed-use projects in the state to date for Related California, a unit of New York-based real estate giant Related Companies.
The project is separate from another big project being considered next door on Sunflower Avenue, at the 17.2-acre South Coast Plaza Village shopping center, which is owned by affiliates of C.J. Segerstrom & Sons — the firm that runs some of Costa Mesa’s most valuable commercial properties, including South Coast Plaza.
That group’s plans, dubbed The Village Santa Ana, calls for 1,583 residential units, up to 300,000 square feet of office and up to 80,000 square feet of retail space, city records indicate. That project has yet to make it to Santa Ana’s planning commission.
