Anaheim OKs $4 Billion OCVibe Development Around Honda Center

A render image of the OCVibe entertainment, food, and housing project proposed by Anaheim Ducks hockey team owners Henry and Susan Samueli to be built around the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. Courtesy of OCVibe

A $4 billion project designed to create new entertainment venues, office space, and housing around the Honda Center in Anaheim, California—was approved by the Anaheim City Council Sept. 27.

The city council will hold a required second vote on the project Oct. 4, after which the approval will become official.

OCVibe will “transform the area in years to come with the type of excitement and experiences seen around arenas and stadiums in San Diego, Sacramento, Los Angeles and other cities, while also being uniquely Anaheim,” according to a Sept. 27 statement by the city.

The project will be privately funded by Henry and Susan Samueli, owners of the Anaheim Ducks hockey team and managers of the Honda Center, without using the city’s revenue, according to the statement.

“We are working with the developer to issue bonds that would be paid by and entirely the responsibility of the OCVibe development team,” the statement read. “We could also work with the OCVibe team on federal and state grant applications for parks and roads that would benefit Anaheim.”

City officials expect to start seeing new yearly revenue about five years into operation and reach $10 million after 10 years when additional revenue from digital sign ads starts coming in, according to the statement.

The Samuelis celebrated the approval in a statement.

A rendered image of the OCVibe entertainment, food, and housing project proposed by Anaheim Ducks hockey team owners Henry and Susan Samueli to be built around the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. Courtesy of OCVibe

“We look forward to starting construction soon on this important community asset that will showcase Anaheim and Orange County, while also providing world-class entertainment and offerings for local residents, visitors, and our Anaheim Ducks fans,” the Samuelis said.

The Samuelis’ H&S Ventures company hopes to start work at the end of this year and finish the 95-acre project in time to host events during the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics, a company spokesman told The Epoch Times. The first phase of the opening is scheduled for 2025.

Organizers of the Olympic Games plan the event to be “car-free,” which will align with OCVibe’s plans for more walkable spaces with adequate transportation options, according to project director Brian Myers.

A render image of the OCVibe entertainment, food, and housing project proposed by Anaheim Ducks hockey team owners Henry and Susan Samueli to be built around the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. Courtesy of OCVibe

The project would be built inside the Platinum Triangle—an 820-acre area around Angel Stadium and the Honda Center designated by city officials in 2004 as a district that would include housing and business development.

Planned to be a mixed-use, master-planned community, OCVibe features new entertainment venues, including a 5,700-seat concert hall and an amphitheater, 35 restaurants, two hotels, and 1,500 new residential units—including 195 affordable housing units.

“Our ambition is for [OCVibe] to be the social and entertainment center of Orange County and Southern California, providing a vibrant collection of experiences celebrating the diversity of our community,” said Bill Foltz, CEO of OCVibe.

OCVibe rendering. Courtesy of the City of Anaheim

The Honda Center, where the Ducks play hockey, is owned by the city. The team has a contract with the city to operate the center until 2043, with an option for additional five-year extensions until 2068, according to the city’s spokesman Mike Lyster.

It will be the biggest project in Anaheim since the expansion of the Anaheim Resort—the recreational, tourist district surrounding Disneyland—in the 1990s, according to the city.