Tensions between Santa Ana residents and representatives of developer Caribou Industries remained high throughout a second sunshine meeting held Thursday to discuss revisions proposed for One Broadway Plaza, a 37-story tower first approved by the city more than 20 years ago.
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One Broadway Plaza was pitched in 1999 as a commercial skyscraper, and the City Council approved the needed zoning changes in 2004. During the pandemic, the developer asked to reduce the office space and introduce a residential component to the project. The current proposal being reviewed is for a residential tower with 572 housing units — a mix of studio and one- to three-bedroom apartments — and retail, dining, and community-serving uses on the vacant North Broadway parcel, between West Washington Avenue and West 10th Street. Next door is the Orange County School of the Arts.
More than 50 people attended the meeting Thursday night, packing into a room inside the former Original Mike’s restaurant near downtown Santa Ana, a building also owned by Caribou Industries President Mike Harrah. Many attendees donned black shirts that read “Stop One Broadway Plaza” on the front and “Santa Ana No Se Vende,” or “Santa Ana is Not for Sale,” on the back.
The sunshine meetings are required by Santa Ana for certain development projects early in the review process to gather public input.
“I’m all for entrepreneurship and people improving Santa Ana,” said Irene Cabañas, president of the Willard Neighborhood Association. “If it was five or 10 stories, let’s review that. But this will be the tallest thing in all of Orange County, double the size of the Big A at the Angel Stadium. It just does not belong in the community.”
But Caribou Industries representatives argued that “demand was high” for the type of residential units being proposed.
The meeting was run by William Beaubeaux, an architect for Caribou Industries, and Katie Cawelti, an external contractor from Curt Pringle and Associates, who said she was hired to help facilitate the event. Beaubeaux said Harrah “would have loved to attend,” but had other meetings and could not make it.
Residents at the meeting repeatedly referenced as “the tallest, greenest, most technologically advanced, luxury urban community in the history of Orange County,” asking if some of the touted features, such as an onsite data center with “military-grade security,” a rooftop sports complex and a commercial heliport, are still included in the project’s latest iteration.
The current proposal has shifted almost entirely to housing, with the office component entirely dropped. It is still proposed at 37 stories, but the plan now calls for the residential apartments across 32 floors, a nine-level garage holding more than 2,400 parking spaces, a grocery store, and about 64,000 square feet of retail.
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During Thursday’s meeting, Caribou representatives fielded questions attendees submitted on cards, with most residents using the gathering to voice opposition rather than seek information. Several questions also drew non-answers.
Pricing is “hard to determine right now,” data-center questions were waved off because no commercial tenant “can be determined at this point,” and concerns about gentrification were met with “that was all discussed prior,” while the rooftop helipad was explained only as being “mainly for emergencies”.
Technical questions were deferred to the city’s environmental review.
One resident asked, “Why are we having this meeting then, if you guys don’t have all the information? I don’t understand. What’s the point?”
Cawelti explained the meeting had a limited scope of what could be discussed.
“What we’re here to talk about today are the amendments within the building itself, which includes the makeup of how many residential units there are, and the exact square footage of the office commercial space,” she said. She told residents the project is still going through the city’s public review and entitlement process and hasn’t gone up for approvals yet.
“This meeting is an opportunity to share the current proposal, answer questions, and garner your feedback,” she said.
In a room that overwhelmingly opposed the tower, one 55-year-old Santa Ana resident, who said he had experience being unhoused earlier in life, shared a different perspective.
“The more housing, the better,” he said.
He said Orange County needs “10 more towers like this one,” adding that building on a vacant dirt lot adds more units rather than removing them. He argued that when high-earners move into the proposed tower, they vacate older Santa Ana units and allow people to “move up a seat.” He asked not to be named, citing fear of being “harassed” over his views.
The project revisions are now expected to be reviewed by the Planning Commission before heading to the City Council for final approval, though those dates have not been determined yet.
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