A mall in Orange County could turn into a sprawling mixed-use community with nearly 1,600 homes.
On Tuesday, the Santa Ana City Council members voted unanimously to approve a development agreement and a specific plan for C.J. Segerstrom & Sons’ The Village Santa Ana project at the current South Coast Plaza shopping center, Voice of OC reported.
The Village plan is advancing amid city officials’ recognition that the local government will face a $30 million deficit when the 1.5 percent sales tax Measure X winds down in 2029.
“Our city needs quality economic development, and that’s what this project will deliver,” Council member Phil Bacerra said Tuesday, per Voice of OC. The Segerstrom family’s development is expected to bring in revenue to the city through taxes and a $9.3 million community benefit payment to the city, Bacerra said.
“This project provides housing while also providing much-needed commercial spaces. Santa Ana cannot thrive or survive by only providing the housing for other city workers and other cities’ economic engines,” Bacerra said. “Previous city leaders did not cultivate this level of economic development. Instead, they chose to force higher sales tax on our residents.”
Under the plan, 1,583 residential units, as well as restaurants, retail, offices, bikeways and acres of publicly accessible open space would be constructed at the South Coast Plaza site at 3333 Bristol Street.
The South Coast Plaza shopping center brings in more than $500,000 annually in tax revenue for the city, according to a city staff report. The proposed Village project is estimated to bring in nearly $5.5 million each year in tax revenue. It’s also projected to create around 9,000 jobs, 1,000 of which will be recurring.
Aging and underutilized malls in Brea, Westminster, Buena Park and Laguna Hills have similarly seen proposals to convert into a mix of retail and homes. Under the state’s housing mandate, cities across Orange County must plan for more than 180,000 new homes by the end of the decade.
Of those, approximately 40 percent must be designated for lower-income families, according to Voice of OC. Developers of the South Coast Plaza project will skirt that requirement by paying $7.1 million in fees to go toward building affordable housing elsewhere in Santa Ana.
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