One Broadway Plaza has surfaced on today’s County agenda under a supplemental portion. It appears the County of Orange is negotiating (or considering such) with developer Mike Harrah regarding One Broadway Plaza, or OBP.
The City of Santa Ana put OBP on the ballot a few years ago after residents complained about what was supposed to be the biggest office tower in Orange County, at 500 feet, going up right in our downtown area. The voters passed the measure, but the tower was never built.
OBP is supposed to be built 4 blocks west of French Park amid the several charter schools around Tenth and Broadway. The French Park Neighborhood remains deeply concerned about traffic and the lack of requirements on the project to mitigate such.
Local resident and community activist Jeff DIckman is asking residents to “consider contacting your Supervisor, in this case Janet Nguyen of the First District (or all if you like), to express your opinion.” She can be emailed: janet.nguyen@ocgov.com. Nguyen is also the Chairman of the Board.
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If all those county officed in the civic center of Santa Ana are moved into this tower, suggest a big red bulls eye be painted on each side of the Tower about half way up. No, this is not intended to be an advertisement for Tartet Stores, just something to help government haters focus their anger. What more could they ask for but a high concentration of government in one building.
It should be interesting to watch and see how Fraudio, Chocula and the rest of the blue boys for Janet spin this into a shrill against Mayor Pro Tem Alvarez and Councilmembers Tinajero and Martinez. So far it has been their modus operandi to spin any criticism of Janet into an attack on others.
Cozying up to Harrah may cause some issues for Janet in certain circles within Santa Ana. However where can they turn, Jose Solorio? Jose is already Harrah’s boy, so Harrah has all his bases covered.
Looks like the “usual suspects” will lose again.
Allegedly it will have lot of toilets!
It will create jobs for Mexicans!
Maybe the county can get Mike to put in the student drop off.
Are we to leave the Civic Center a ghost town and French Park a raceway?
Many Santa Ana residents are opposed to OBP without extensive and real traffic mitigation for the neighborhoods surrounding this proposed high-rise.
I think a tunnel from a parking structure below the building to the freeway should be mitigation enough.
Or buy up all of the properties on the east side of Main street (we need to save the Bowers Museum) and the both sides of 17th street – both all the way to the 5 freeway – put in some lanes – that ought to be mitigation enough.
In my opinion, this building is in the wrong place – put it next to the 5 freeway (south side) between Broadway and Main St.
In order to build the enormous tower the developer has to have half of the office space leased before the first shovel of dirt is turned.
Does this mean the County Supervisors who are the direct recipients of developer donations will in fact facilitate the ability to build this boondoggle?
My understanding is that Mike Metzler is leaving the Chamber to become Santa Ana City Manager. That should help get OBP rolling.
#7,
“My understanding is that Mike Metzler is leaving the Chamber to become Santa Ana City Manager. That should help get OBP rolling.”
Oh SH*T! Source??? or hint- source—-where’d ya get dat info!
county tenants? WOW. That’s lots of tax revenue for the city.
Where are the Fortune 500 companies Harrah promised?
“Where are the Fortune 500 companies Harrah promised?”
#10,
Probably the same place all those businesses and tax revenue that Don Cribb and company promised the Artists Village would bring to Santa Ana are.
Hey we need Jobs in Orange County and if this well help stimulate Jobs then I am all for it. I drove through Downtown Santa Ana Yesterday and it needs new life and maybe this is just the thing to do it.
Look at what happens in places like New York when investment comes into an old Neighborhood it really turns them around.
#12, you can’t be serious! First, the thing is not in “downtown” unless you really want to stretch the boundaries northward.
But that’s not the point. The point is that all this new office space would leave the rest of Santa Ana a “ghost town” as number #5 points out. The County itself already occupies all sorts of office space in and around the Civic Center.
However…
Even as we speak the County is in the midst of an RFP process to find a developer/designer/contractor to tear down the empty Building 16 on Ross St. and replace it with something like 400,000 square feet of office space. The financing leverage is guaranteed revenue stream through a long-term County lease.
P.S. OBP, if built, would drive down surrounding office space value to the point where the value of the real estate itself would become seriously effected. And this would ultimately drive down property tax revenue, etc.
The Santa Ana City Council could not have made a bigger blunder than to approve the rezoning and entitlements for this fiasco. But I guess they had their reason(s)!
#14 Bingo …
Yes, the value of real estate itself would be seriously effected and that’s they way the mayor wants it. How opportunitisitic for Pulido, Kakkar and Harrah to swope in and save the day by buying cheap real estate.
OBP was shoved down the residents throats by Pulido.
If you build it, they will come