The Anaheim Union High School has several redevelopment proposals in hand for its now-vacant Hope School property.
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Hope School, the district’s only dedicated special needs school, opened in 1969 at 7901 Knott Ave., in Buena Park, and eventually grew to serve more than 200 students.
But this school year going forward, Hope’s student body and staff will receive their education two miles down the street at the former Orangeview Junior High School campus. The junior high was combined with Western High, on the high school campus, at the start of last school year.
In 2023, amid financial woes and dwindling enrollment, the district board decided the Hope campus could be redeveloped to bolster coffers and benefit the community.
The board recently reviewed six redevelopment proposals that proffer up to 589 housing units and some acreage reserved for a healthcare component that’ll be fine-tuned in the coming months.
“This is an extraordinarily strong showing,” district legal counsel Tao Rossini said of the proposals during a presentation to the board.
“They’re able to develop your property and you’re going to make money from the projects,” he said. “We’ve satisfied many of your components that you’re looking for. Now, it’s refining.”
The proposals
Community HousingWorks: The San Diego-based, nonprofit developer is proposing 589 units — 36 townhomes, 126 workforce housing units and 429 affordable housing units — with some 5 acres allotted for a healthcare facility.
The project would be built and funded in phases using a mix of tax credits and state and private funds.
MW Investment Group and C&C Development: The developers propose to build 255 market-rate townhomes with 85 workforce apartments.
There would be a 99-year lease for the 14.9-acre residential portion of the property, and the school district would get an estimated $540,000 annually, with rent increasing 2.5% each year to generate a total of $227.4 million in revenue over the lease’s lifespan.
The proposal reserves up to five acres for a healthcare project, with “conversations underway with KCS and Coalition OC to program the space,” a presentation to board members said.
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Storm Properties: A proposal by the Los Angeles-based developer envisions a mix of rentals and townhomes to “replace aging housing stock and specifically attract families to drive district enrollment.”
There would be 125 market-rate, 75 low-income, and 50 moderate-income homes to total 250 housing units atop 12.5 acres. The proposal leaves 7.5 acres for a healthcare or professional facility.
The developer is proposing to pay the district $1.17 million annually with a 10% increase every 10 years.
TAIT & Greystar: Developers TAIT, of Santa Ana, and Greystar, of Charleston, are pitching 250 market-rate units with 90 affordable and workforce units that won’t require district funds to build.
And the developers envision an “educational wellness village” that would have a health learning center with a childcare facility.
The Michaels Organization: The 18-acre residential campus proposed featuring garden-style apartments — with 140 low-income, tax-credit apartments and 250 workforce units — would be “targeted at young families and district staff.”
There’s no healthcare component proposed yet, but the plan leaves “two acres with existing buildings for the district to run.”
USA Properties: The proposal by Roseville-headquartered USA Properties focuses on housing and would deliver 500 units, with 300 units as affordable apartments and 200 as build-to-rent townhomes that would share connected paseos.
USA Properties also envisions a 2,000-square-foot community health center that would feature clinical space and partner with Coalition of OC Community Health Centers.
A $1.15 million annual base rent rising 2% annually over the lease’s 99-year lifespan would bring the district an estimated $307.5 million over the years.
District staffers said they intend to bring back to the board a detailed “short list” of developers and their proposals, but did not offer a timeframe at the meeting for when that presentation would happen.
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