At the heart of one of Orange County’s newest urban transformation stories is southern Santa Ana — where next city leaders will be considering a 17.2-acre mixed-use redevelopment of an aging shopping center.
South Coast Plaza Village, owned by the Segerstrom family and located on the Santa Ana–Costa Mesa border, is proposed for an overhaul that would include up to 1,583 homes, 80,000 square feet of retail and 300,000 square feet of office space. Another nearly 14 acres of parks and open space are proposed, more than 7 acres of which would be open to the public.
The city’s Planning Commission is set to consider the project at its Monday, Aug. 11, meeting.
Established in 1973 and home to longtime tenants such as Morton’s Steakhouse and Darya Persian Cuisine, the property on Sunflower Avenue between Bear Street and South Plaza Drive could soon be demolished to make way for The Village, a new mixed-use community proposed by South Coast Plaza. The recently closed Regency Theater property is also part of the project area.
“The Village will offer a unique setting for shopping, dining and accessing daily services,” the developers said in their site plan proposal, adding, “this neighborhood village will be the hub of activity, designed within a parklike setting that creates an intimate and relaxing environment.”
A central commercial area off Sunflower is envisioned, as well as shops and restaurants in the ground floors of adjacent residential buildings. There would be surface-level parking and underground structures. Maps show residential units spread over seven buildings, and there is one office building. Buildings could be no taller than 25 stories.
Transformational redevelopment of this area of Santa Ana, a prominent corner of Orange County’s shopping and cultural arts scene with South Coast Plaza and the Segestrom Center of the Arts nearby, is already underway.
The neighboring Related Bristol project approved in 2024 will soon begin replacing a 41-acre pair of shopping centers and their sea of underutilized parking spaces with one of the largest mixed-use developments in Santa Ana’s history. The project across the street from South Coast Plaza will include a 250-room hotel, a 200-unit senior care complex, up to 3,750 residential units, restaurants and shops and parks.
Both developments stem from a 2022 City Council decision to allow high-density, mixed-use projects in the South Bristol Street corridor, considered a key southern gateway into Santa Ana. The city’s long-term plan for urban development calls for replacing car-centered shopping plazas with vibrant “urban villages,” designed for walking, biking and public transit.
The Planning Commission will review The Village project and make a recommendation to the City Council, which will make the final approval decision. The first of two City Council hearings is tentatively set for Sept. 16.
The council will be deciding whether to grant entitlements, or legal permissions for the project, which include a development agreement between the city and South Coast Plaza, a subdivision map dividing the project into six lots, and a request to replace the current property zoning with a custom zoning plan developed for The Village.
City leaders will also need to vote on whether to override a decision by the Orange County Airport Land Use Commission, which previously said the project is inconsistent with land-use rules for the John Wayne Airport area.
The project would happen in five phases, its developers say, expecting it to take upwards of 20 years to complete.