Developers see a lot of possibilities in Anaheim

Ideas include a hotel and retail and office space for site that was being eyed by the NFL.

By SARAH TULLY
The Orange County Register

ANAHEIM – Office towers, a hotel with a rooftop bar and a youth-sports facility could fill the land next to Angel Stadium, under three developers' proposals.

The city solicited ideas for the well-placed property after the National Football League failed to choose the site for a stadium by the city's May deadline. City officials are continuing to negotiate with the NFL, which has no time frame for choosing a Southern California site, while considering alternatives for the 51.4-acre, city-owned plot.

Later this month, the City Council is set to review plans by five developers – one of which would set aside space for a possible NFL stadium.

"It is very clear that we have many different options," said Councilman Harry Sidhu, who was against the NFL's initial offer. "These options are healthy for our community and healthy for the taxpayers."

Three developers discussed plans with The Orange County Register. The city has agreed to release all five plans after the council reviews them, but only did so after a Register attorney wrote a letter asking for the information.

The city decided to seek proposals now because land prices have skyrocketed in the Platinum Triangle area.

Earlier this year, the NFL was willing to pay $53 million for the land. SunCal now is offering $82 million. Others declined to release their offers.

Mayor Curt Pringle said the city should sell the land only if it would provide a long-term economic benefit for the city. "I have no motivation, no interest, no drive to sell it for a short-term infusion of cash," he said.

Current zoning and leases restrict uses of the property, which now has a parking lot, train station and The Grove of Anaheim theater. A lease with the Angels prohibits residences on the property, so a developer would have to negotiate a lease change to get permission to build homes.

The offers:
Lennar Corp.

Details: 650,000 square feet of office space; 300,000 square feet of retail and entertainment; a 200-room hotel; 30,000 square feet of recreational uses; and 4 acres of open space. A second option would add 1,800 homes.

Lennar submitted two options. One would meet zoning and lease criteria and another would include housing.

The developer envisions a sweeping project that would help connect the Honda Center and a proposed transportation hub across the Orange (57) Freeway with Lennar's A-Town, the largest triangle development, across State College Boulevard, said Richard Knowland, Lennar's division president.

High-rise office buildings would dot Katella Avenue. A pedestrian bridge and street would slice across to A-Town.

Standing above Angel Stadium, a hotel would have a rooftop bar and rooms with peek-a-boo views of baseball games.

The second option would include most of the same features but add 1,800 homes.

If approved, Lennar would give up a second housing project, A-Town Stadium, that is planned for south of the stadium. That land could be used as a bargaining tool with the Angels, which would have to agree to a lease change to allow housing.
SunCal

Details: 1 million square feet of office space; 350,000 square feet of retail and entertainment uses; a 450-room hotel; and 1,300 homes, including 15 percent for affordable units.

SunCal would divide the project into three districts: residential, retail-entertainment and financial.

The developer would set aside land for "community benefits," incorporating an art promenade, a civic plaza, a theater and a youth-sports training facility, said Frank Elfend, SunCal's consultant.

Premium restaurants, such as Fleming's Prime Steakhouse and Houston's, and designer boutiques, such as Calvin Klein and Gucci, would line a retail row, along with a movie theater and children's stores.
Windstar Communities

Details: Four options were submitted, which include all the uses allowed by the city, such as entertainment, retail, office, hotel and youth-sports facility uses. Windstar declined to release a breakdown of each.

Two proposals incorporate an NFL stadium. Some include homes, said Eric Heffner, a principal at Windstar Communities.

Windstar would give the NFL a certain amount of time to decide if it wants to build a stadium on the property. If the league decides against the Anaheim site, Windstar would build something else on the set-aside land.

"We think our proposal allows us to see what happens with the NFL in a couple of years," Heffner said. "We don't need a football stadium to make the development successful."

Windstar, which built Stadium Lofts, is the first to sell homes in the Platinum Triangle.

Houston bucks national trend as housing market strengthens

Noelle Knox
USA Today
Nov. 1, 2006 12:00 AM

Houston's housing market is on track to set another record this year. While sales of existing homes nationwide have fallen for the past six months, they've been rising about 12 percent a month, on average, in Houston. Why?

"We have not had the (price) appreciation other areas have had," says Lorraine Abercrombie of the Houston Association of Realtors. "We just have a lot of different opportunities and different housing around Houston. I think people can find affordable housing everywhere."

Indeed, with home prices in the area one-third below the national median, they look downright cheap. And yet prices are up 6.7 percent this year.

Of course, gushing oil profits don't hurt, either. Houston's economy, while more diversified now with computers, aerospace and health care, still rises and falls with the oil industry.

The city of more than 2 million, the largest in Texas, continues to grow. And with plenty of vacant land around, construction is keeping up with demand. Construction permits for single-family homes totaled 36,128 through August, nearly 15 percent more than in the first eight months of last year.