Won't You Be My Neighbor?

Santa Ana needs more gay people.
There, I said it.

Having grown up in San Diego, I've seen first hand how the (GLBT) community can refine once rough urban areas like Hillcrest and further expand its positive gentrification into surrounding neighborhoods such as Normal Heights and North Park into desirable pocket destinations.

Don't take my word for it–here's an exerpt on Gay Villages from Wikipedia (yeah I know, Wikipedia isn't de facto, but I strongly agree with what is written).

These neighborhoods are also often found in working-class parts of the city, or in the neglected fringe of a downtown area – communities which may have been upscale historically but became economically depressed and socially disorganized. In these cases, the establishment of a gay community may eventually turn these areas into desirable, upscale neighborhoods, a process known as gentrification – a phenomenon in which gays often play a pioneer role.

That first sentence in the above quote sure sounds like both the Lacy and French Park (are you listening Santa Ana/Related California) neighborhoods, wouldn't you say?

So...who's with me on giving the water tower a fresh coat of rainbow paint this weekend?

Back from the Dead

"Downtown Orange County"–that definitely has a ring to it. But I often wonder if the folks who decided to paint that slogan on our beloved water tower have ever been to a real downtown.

Don't get me wrong, I love the current flavor and charm of what sits between 1st Street and Civic Center Drive, but come 7PM on a Monday night, the lights go out and the sidewalks are rolled up.

One of the main issues I feel that's stunting this area's development is that the Residential Zoning Code mandates that only Live-Work developments can be built in Downtown Santa Ana (though I've heard this might be changing soon).

A few years back, the Olson Company breathed new life into Downtown Santa Ana by building both the Main Street and the award-winning East Village Lofts. But for some reason (I've heard a few speculations why), they never got a chance to finish up the final phase of their project (to be named Sycamore Street Lofts) located on the corner of 3rd and Sycamore.

After years of being a vacant lot and one of Santa Ana's (many) under-utilized assets, City Ventures has stepped in and is picking up right where Olson left off.

I've always hoped that this 1/2-acre lot would be the catalyst for bigger and better things for Downtown Santa Ana (like making Memphis want to be open on Monday nights). I'm not sure what the original specs called for, but image ground floor (quality) retail with 3 stories of residential sitting on top–that would be the tits.

Check out the press release below that was forwarded to me by my good amigo:

City Ventures’ Latest Acquisition Will Add More Life to Santa Ana’s Artist Village

Continuing its pace of aggressive land acquisitions, City Ventures has purchased a fully-entitled, half-acre community in Santa Ana, Calif., where it will complete development on a much-anticipated collection of live/work artist lofts. City Ventures acquired the property – adjacent to the downtown artist village – from a New York-based capital management fund and is now working with the City of Santa Ana to complete the community. The purchase was an all-cash transaction.

Situated on the corner of North Sycamore Street and West 3rd Street, less than a mile from the City’s Metrolink train station, the neighborhood is planned for 16 homes, ranging from 1,227 to 2,134 square feet with one to three bedrooms. Homes – expected to be complete in 2011 – will have an estimated average price of $400,000.

City Ventures is independently financing the community’s acquisition and construction.

In addition to this parcel in Santa Ana, City Ventures currently holds more than 2,000 lots within 13 California urban, coastal counties with more than $1.0 billion in revenue potential. The company also owns or controls – land in cities including Pasadena, Newport Beach, Santa Barbara, Encinitas, Yorba Linda, and Claremont.

To meet our team and learn more about City Ventures, please visit our website at www.cityventures.com

Special thanks to my good buddy El Diablo Blanco for the heads up.

Wanted: Good Ideas to Lay Great Tracks

The first significant investment the City of Santa Ana would be implementing in our neighborhood is roughly three years out, but today and tomorrow, the project will need your input to make it a success.

The three or four of you who follow this blog already know that I back this idea and I sincerely believe that building a fixed-guideway system will improve all property values all along its path as well as serve as a tremendous asset to the “working class” resident.

With that being said, the City of Santa Ana will be hosting two listening sessions where they hope to gather community input to help make this project a success for everyone.

Please Join the Cities of Santa Ana and Garden Grove for a Community Listening Session for the Proposed Fixed-Guideway Project.
Your opinion is important to us!

Two community listening sessions are being planned for the proposed Santa Ana and Garden Grove Fixed Guideway project.

The goal of the project is to provide residents, workers and visitors with a new east-west transit connection between the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center (SARTC), the Downtown District and Civic Center in Central Santa Ana, and Garden Grove.

Public input is important to the project’s development and we want to hear your thoughts and ideas. We have planned two community listening sessions, both are open to the public. Please attend the meeting most convenient for your schedule.

When and Where:
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center (Train Station)
Room - Main Lobby
1000 East Santa Ana Boulevard
Santa Ana, CA 92701
*Corner of Santa Ana Boulevard and Santiago Avenue

When and Where:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Santa Ana City Hall - Community Development Conference Room
Second Floor, Room 209
20 Civic Center Plaza
Santa Ana, CA 92701
*Corner of Civic Center Drive and Ross Street
For more information, please call us at (866) 580-9455

Upon first hearing about the rail project several years ago, I tried to find specific examples of how a streetcar system was detrimental to its city or the surrounding neighborhoods and found only hearsay.

If anyone out there in the Blogosphere knows of an example, please send it my way.

And no, the monorail project proposed and developed by Lyle Lanley does not count.

"Y'know, a town with money is a little like the mule with a spinning wheel. No one knows how he got it and danged if he knows how to use it."

Hopes and Fears

After living in Santa Ana for over three years, it seems as if things are finally happening in the empty lots just West of the Santiago Lofts.

When I first told my friends and family I was moving to Santa Ana, they thought I was crazy. But to me, it made perfect sense because I believe in this city–what it is, what it was, and what it could be.

As of Monday night, the Related/Griffin team is now one step closer in becoming the master developer for these nearby lots. And after three years of watching other cities evolve while Santa Ana moved at a snail's pace, I am filled with hope with the thought of what could come to our city.

But at the same time, my hopes are equally met with trepidation and fears.

Allow me to share some of my hopes and fears:

I'm hopeful that what we build, retains the quality residents already living here while attracting new ones who are invested in this city, looking to build stronger communities.

I'm fearful that like everything else in Santa Ana, it will take too long to develop and we'll have once again missed our window of opportunity.

I'm hopeful that within these ~7 acres being developed, creative open spaces and green spaces; such as parks (ground and rooftop) gardens (community/rooftop) are implemented.

I'm fearful that the children of our neighborhoods are to continue playing in empty parking lots–such as those that do everyday at Garfield Elementary.

I'm hopeful the grand vision for the Station District is for a creative, urban renewal that activates our streets and would rival the revivals that took place in destinations such as University Heights (Park Blvd/Adams Ave) in San Diego and Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice.

I'm fearful that the design cues will be taken from stale city of Irvine.

I'm hopeful that when finally implemented, the streetcar is a new avenue that brings commerce to Santa Ana.

I'm fearful the streetcar will just be another way to fabulous Garden Grove.

I'm hopeful that whatever ground floor retail & restaurants planned for these lots "fit"–having something for everyone.

I'm fearful that the driving force that thought it would be okay to:

• Allowed Ware set up shop in Logan


• Build stucco monstrosities in the middle of French Park


• Not develop amenities in conjunction with the Santiago Lofts at the train depot parking lot


• Have an El Pollo Loco as the only walkable restaurant to the world famous Bowers Museum (not including Tangata which is located adjacent to the museum)

is still behind the wheel of our city.

I'm hopeful in that Santa Ana will some day become a true destination city; where new circulation is brought to our streets–where places like Downtown, The Fiesta Marketplace, 4th Street, and the Station District (including the train depot) are ventured to by people all over Southern California.

Hollywood, Atlanta and now...Santa Ana???

Last night as the wife and I were heading to Mother's Market at City Place, I was surprised to see people sitting on a normally unoccupied patio. And then I saw the sign: "Geisha House Now Open.

Hey, Geisha House is open! I said.

Whatever, she scoffed as we pulled into the driveway, coming to a never before seen sign at City Place reading: Valet Parking: $5.00.

See, the reason for my shock and the wife's doubt stems from our long-running theory that (part) owner Ashton Kutcher was pulling one last Punk on the citizens of Santa Ana.

Well, not really. We just know that so many restaurants have had such a difficult time opening up shop in Santa Ana, we figured this soon-to-be hot spot would eventually give up working with the often business-unfriendly Santa Ana and set up shop elsewhere, taking their pseudo-Spider-Man/Playstation 3 font with them.

After picking up our groceries at Mother's (including the tastiest (and only) $7 jar of pasta sauce I've ever had), I peered into the restaurant and was delighted to see such a highbrow venue in our own backyard. I knew there was another location in Hollywood, but I didn't think our little 'ol city would get the same treatment in decor.

"Man, and I thought being inside The Crosby on a Saturday night made me feel uncool(er)".

Though the staff seemed a little green being that it took a while for one of them to greet me, after doing so, she was very kind to humor my dumb questions.

When did you guys open?
Last night (Friday).

Were you busy?
Yeah, kinda. We're expecting it to pick up once the word gets out.

What time are you open 'til?
We stop seating at 10:30.

Are you open Sunday nights?
Yes, but not tomorrow.

Is Ashton here?
No. Go Away.

I'm kidding about the last one, but hey–we've got another restaurant in Santa Ana that's open on Sunday nights!

Long have I thought that a good sushi restaurant would do well in Downtown Santa Ana but hey, City Place will do for now.

As for the food–stay tuned as part two of this blog post continues later this week with a complete review of Geisha House's food, decor, prices and most important, the restrooms.

In the mean time, check out their menu.

Shoulda Woulda Coulda

First, read this article at the OC Register.

Doug Irving is one of the best reporters at the OC Register, not to mention a pretty nice and down-to-earth guy. But this article didn't sit too well with me, as well as several other individuals I spoke to about it.

Though, I wouldn't be too quick to blast Doug as he does bring up good points. Yeah, he does play up the “victim card” pretty nicely in this one but hold on, this is how I see it.

In recent years, the City seems to have developed an uncanny knack for missed opportunities, and I'm hoping that's the point Doug was trying to drive home; City, we're watching you this time.


Here are some key points from the article along with my thoughts:

• The property owners made a nice profit from their dealings with the city–even the code enforcement-violating ones. I'm sorry if some of them have seller's remorse but let me be clear; if someone offered me a huge chunk of change for my loft, I'd sell it in a heartbeat and move downtown.
  
  
• Calling your Ward a "slum" isn't the best choice of words, no matter how frustrated you are. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a slum as a densely populated usually urban area marked by crowding, dirty run-down housing, poverty, and social disorganization. This article seems to indicate that this definition could actually apply to what the Lacy neighborhood was prior to the City's intervention.
  
  
• I wouldn't say nothing has come of the City's convoluted plan to improve the City. The Santiago Lofts were built as part of this plan and our being here has resulted in some pretty great things for the City so far (exhibit 1, exhibit 2, exhibit 3).
  
  
• The City's plan of "buying up the crowded apartments and run-down homes that pocked the neighborhood, and replacing them with something newer, something better" does worry me. What exactly constitutes "newer and better"? More high-density apartments? No thank you. Let's not treat the people of Santa Ana like sardines please.
  
  
• The City needs to adopt a plan and announce an end date to this project. Things are so much more exciting when you have one (that's also a Lost reference). Once the end date is in place, Santa Ana needs to take the ball and run up field for six for a change, instead of dancing side to side gaining zero, or even worse, negative yardage.
  
  
• While I ask you to not crucify Mr. Irving for writing this article, I would like to present the fact that there is a severe dearth of positive articles written about Santa Ana in the Register; which is located less than a mile east of this so called "slum".
  

When and if the City does move forward with their plan, I hope they do it right. I hope whatever goes up in those lots (eh hem) causes drivers to slow down and be thankful they live/work in Santa Ana.

Art Walk and soundDowntown–This Weekend in Santa Ana

Once again, our little community will be putting on our monthly Art Walk this Saturday, drawing in people from all over to witness for themselves some of the wonderful things coming to Santa Ana, not to mention some pretty sweet local art.

One of the exhibits that I'm excited to check out is The Art of City Building II: Mixed-Income Housing & Transit Oriented Development, presented by Galeria Tufiño.

This exhibit takes a closer look at Santa Ana's current state of housing, and the enormous potential that can come to our city with responsible and creative development.

For more information regarding this exhibit, please check out this page on the Galeria Tufiño website.

More information about the Santiago Art District Art Walk is available here.



Another event that's catching a lot of buzz and will hopefully draw people into Santa Ana is soundDowntown (yes, that's how they chose to spell it).

Details from the website:
soundDowntown 2008 is a one-day music festival on Saturday, November 15, featuring a lineup of over 50 locally and nationally recognized bands, DJ's and performing artists at various venues throughout the Artist's Village of downtown Santa Ana.

soundDowntown runs from Saturday, November 15th starting at 2PM and wraps up Sunday the 16th at 2AM.

More information available here.

Making It Really "Work"

Live, Work, Play.

That was one of the marketing slogans that original sold me on the Santiago Street Lofts.

Three years later, I Live here, I (sometimes) Work here, and if you're a reader of this blog, you sure as hell know I Play here.

The "Live, Work, Play" slogan dreams big for this community, but has still yet to be fully realized. With the Renaissance Plan on the back burner until election season is over, and any developments that were headed our way postponed until the next real estate cycle, I figured in the mean time, the Work element was something that could use some fine tuning.

As someone who runs a part-time business out of their store front, I've witnessed firsthand how difficult it is to do so. On several occasions, my clients were unable to find a suitable parking space nearby. With gas prices on the rise, even the parking lot at the train depot can be packed with increased ridership. Also, it doesn't help that the city of Santa Ana previously designated ALL parking around the Santiago Street Lofts as No Parking/Stopping.

Currently, the city is looking the other direction and not enforcing the No Parking on Poinsettia Street until construction is completed here at the lofts. But once the construction crew is out at the end of the year, the plan was to make that entire block No Parking/Stopping.

And why are there so many streets designated “No Parking/Stopping” around the lofts? For years, the Logan neighborhood has battled irresponsible overflow parking from some of the neighboring businesses, which prompted the city to act with their usual kill a fly with a shotgun method by restricting parking on entire blocks.

While this method has prevented trash and tow trucks from taking up residence on nearby public streets, it has also put a stranglehold on many who've decided to run a business from within their unit.

This dilemma prompted me back in January (2008) to approach the city of Santa Ana with a plan to install parking meters around the Santiago Street Lofts–allowing guests and clients easy access during normal business hours to the businesses residing in the lofts. These meters would only be enforced Monday through Friday, 9AM-6PM.

After speaking with countless individuals and getting the runaround several times over, I called Scott Kutner of the Community Development Agency for Santa Ana and he was able to put me in touch with Frank Orellana, a Senior Engineer with the city of Santa Ana's Public Works department. Frank had just recently been assigned to identify options to improve on-street parking in our area due to upcoming developments with the Santa Ana Street Car plan.

Though we're currently not in an area that allows (is zoned) for metered parking, Frank and I worked out a plan that will now allow non-metered 1-hour parking in the green areas, indicated in the graphic below. This 1-hour rule will be in effect Monday through Friday from 9AM-6PM.

But why metered/1- hour parking at all you ask? That's a great question. The plan is to prevent long-term parking on the loft-side of the street from adjacent businesses, as well as overflow from the depot parking lot–a problem that has crept into our own "visitor parking" stalls here at the lofts. The goal is to create circulation, and not stunt businesses. Not to mention, preventing any future issues with abandoned cars near the lofts.

If things go well, Frank said there’s a good possibility that the 1-hour limit can be increased to a maximum of two hours. The ultimate goal of this pet project is achieve metered parking around the lofts, but with the city of Santa Ana, it's always baby steps. But hey, it's a start.

The debate on whether or not parking should be allowed on Civic Center Drive (loft side) is still going on being that the "Go-Local" streetcar scheduled for completion in a few years would just end up taking any allotted spaces away from that side of the street.

In the mean time, these added parking spaces should help out not only the daytime businesses that are blossoming in our community, but nighttime activities including our monthly Art Walk, which, by the way, is this Saturday.

Hope

One of the best things about living on Santa Ana Boulevard is the convenience of being able to spark a conversation with any of the many pedestrians that pass through here daily.

People who’ve lived in this area of Santa Ana are happy to see something as nice as our lofts finally come to their neighborhood. Joggers and dog walkers are popping up everywhere and it's great!

Having spoken with several high school students that transverse these sidewalks (upwards of ten times a school week), these lofts represent what these students could achieve should they choose to continue on their paths for higher education–in other words, these lofts represent hope.

In a city touting an “Education First” motto, but only supporting a painfully low 56% graduation rate among high school students (source: Civic for Civic Innovation), hope is something this town and these students desperately need.

And what of the 56% of students that do graduate from high school and move on to pursue a four-year degree? Do you think that Santa Ana has what it takes to retain these educated individuals once college is done?

No. They end up moving to real cities with real downtowns such as Los Angeles, San Diego or Long Beach.

The remaining 44% of students who don’t graduate from high school statistically end up in low-wage jobs, with very few options or ways out of this city.

Having spoken with a friend that once worked at Latino Health Access, 8 out of 10 teenage females will get pregnant in the city of Santa Ana.

As a good friend put it, Santa Ana has created a wonderful system of dependency.

Growing up, I didn’t have much, but I did see a lot of wonderful things happening in downtown San Diego that aspired me to continue on with my education.

Though the Broadway One tower (terrible website design) is riddled with controversy and shenanigans, I welcome that development in that it too brings hope. Once built, the tower will not only bring in new faces to Santa Ana, but also large corporations that could help retain the educated students who would normally make an exodus from this town.

Currently, downtown Santa Ana does not allow standard (R2) residential living. As stated in the Renaissance Plan, this restriction would be lifted offering new living options to current residents and outsiders seeking the urban lifestyle.

Anyone who knows me personally has probably heard my rant as to how important this zoning change is to this city. With such limiting restrictions on residential developments, our downtown currently operates as a dismal 10-hour downtown when it could easily be an 18-hour downtown full of restaurants, activities and a wondrous nightlife.

Employment opportunities will blossom from every corner. Restaurants such as Memphis, Jason’s and Tommy Pastrami could support a full 7-day schedule with the influx of hungry urbanites. County workers that normally stampede out of the city come five o'clock now have a reason to hang out and spend some time and money in our fabulous downtown. The increased foot traffic would create a better sense of security for those who before, would never step foot in Santa Ana, and now would do anything to be here.

Sacré Bleu

Did Lennar get a deal on blue paint or what?

Not that I have anything against the blue buildings, but seven buildings out of 20 total use the color blue in their palette. That's a little much if you ask me. Not to mention that blue and tan urban dwelling are about five years out of vogue.

A Lennar sales representative once told me that the blue and tan buildings were in fact the hardest ones to move. Hence, there were to be no more blue buildings in the final phases.

So what happens five to ten years down the road when a blue and tan homeowner tries to sell their unit? Hopefully there are enough interesting things sprouting up around the loft community in the next few years to help these future sellers.

Originally, this tan and blue building on the corner of Poinsettia Street and Santa Ana Boulevard was slated to be the Greenwich Village facade–the green and brick stone one. But I guess the interior furnishings weren't the only things Lennar cheapened out on.

Santa Ana Propaganda

You would never think that the Santa Ana featured in this clip is the same Santa Ana you read about in the OC Register. It’s amazing what good stock footage, editing using quick cuts, and super-saturating the footage can do for your city. Still, there's nowhere else in Orange County I'd rather live than here in Santa Ana.



Zapfino is arguably the worst typeface–EVER.

City Place Event Tonight

Tonight and every first Friday of the month, business owners at City Place host an event where you can enjoy food, music and special events from 7-10 pm.

If you haven't yet been to City Place, first Fridays are a great time to check it out.

The Shape of Things to Come

Tonight as I walked down Santa Ana Boulevard to pick up a few delicious pounds of carne asada at Northgate Market, a gleeful vision of what's to come danced through my mind.

With Lennar rapidly finishing the final development of the Santiago Street Lofts, bigger and better developments will soon follow. Our community is successful and thriving, and it will be only a matter of time when the ball starts to roll on other neighboring projects.

Passing the Prime Urban office off Santa Ana Boulevard, I thought about two upcoming and exciting developments that these way cool and down-to-earth guys have in the works in this area.

Minter Court, a unique bungalow-style development consisting of 10 newly constructed town homes designed around central courtyards should most likely break ground later this year. If you haven't been inside the Prime Urban office, I highly suggest stopping by. You'll quickly become a believer in their work as soon as you step through their doors (they have a hypno-ray hidden somewhere behind all that brick).

The second project, although a bit further out should get all residents of and near the Santiago Street Lofts excited. The Depot Project is looking to feature anywhere from 12-16 ground-level retail shops/restaurants/cafes with 4-5 stories of new (residential) neighbors living along Santiago Street.

You know as soon as this project is underway, I'll be on the phone with Chipotle headquarters trying to get them to fill one of those retail pads.

In recent weeks, the OC Register has reported that the city of Santa Ana is moving forward with their plan to develop streetcars running from the Santa Ana Train Depot though out the downtown and ending in Garden Grove.

Although I personally love walking and biking through town, the thought of taking a streetcar home after a nice meal downtown does hold a very strong appeal.

I for one am all aboard with the streetcar plan and think it’s a fantastic and exciting idea to help reboot Santa Ana–I just hope that by the time the project is finally completed, I'll still be ways away from qualifying for the senior discount.

So for now, while we may have to put up with the “random feces” or the occasional tag on our complex from one of the local kiddies, things are looking to turn around dramatically in the next couple of years–and it’s that potential that makes living in this area all the worthwhile.

The 2008 Downtown Mixer (04/03)

Delilah Snell, owner of the eco-friendly Road Less Traveled Store, and Board Chair of the the Downtown Santa Ana Business Council asked me to pass along this invite to residents and friends of the Santiago Street Lofts.

This is an invitation to the Downtown Santa Ana Business and Neighborhood Mixer. Come and meet the many people who make Santa Ana a great place to live and work. Bring information about your business to share and sample delectable appetizers from Jason's Downtown Restaurant and Wine Cellar complimentary of the Downtown Santa Ana Business Council.

• see upcoming branding and marketing images for the area


• interactive website launching


• receive a copy of the area's new map for visitors


• view a list of 2008/09 events


• share your thoughts with business owners, community leaders and residents
  

When: April 3rd from 5-8pm

Where: Jason's Downtown, 416 West 4th Street (across from the Ronald Regan Courthouse)

Who: you and others that you know, please pass this along!

Contact: Delilah Snell, 714.836.8727 for more information.

A Sinking Ship?

First, their sweet corner location goes up for sale, then their website is nowhere to be found, and today the OC Register reports that Urban West has backed out from the proposal that would have built over 400 condos and commercial space in the Parc Anaheim Project (which was later slated to become an RV Park.)

Of course, who could blame Urban West for not wanting to build an RV park—they're way too hip for a project of that caliber.

But is Urban West on their way out?

There Will Be Burritos

I was more than overwhelmed yesterday morning when I received a txt message from a friend that read: "new chipotle coming to santa ana".

No, Chipotle isn't setting up shop in the recently closed Pollo de Oro in downtown Santa Ana, but rather on Seventeenth Street in the lot adjacent to OSH. You know, the one that rarely locks the cases to the spray paint.

With L&L Hawaiian Barbecue relocating to a neighboring pad at this location from its previous spot held within the Costa Mesa Marukai market, this sleepy side of Seventeenth Street has potential that could mirror the success of the Centre on Seventeenth, the strip mall located directly across the street.

And yes, I'm giddy like a school girl with the news of a nearby Chipotle on the way.

Neighborhood 6

Last week, construction began on 3 new buildings at the Santiago Street Lofts. Known as Neighborhood 6, this development will consist of five adjacent "Plan 3's" in the interior building and five adjacent "Plan 5's" facing Poinsettia Street. The third building, the last to be built on the highly trafficked Santa Ana Boulevard, will consist of one "Plan 4", one "Plan 3", two "Plan 2's" and two "Plan 1's".

I'm hoping that the façade of this building will be the one with the brick stone finish. So far, the only one with this exterior is the building located on the Southwest corner of Santiago Street and Santa Ana Boulevard. Do we really need any more blue buildings?

Here are the prices from the price sheet I grabbed while at the sales office:

Plan 1 (1,584SF): From $435k
Plan 2 (1,793SF): From $460k
Plan 3 (1,886SF): From $479k
Plan 4 (2,321SF): From $656k
Plan 5 (1,563SF): From $430k

In addition, Lennar is offering $15,000 buyer incentive.

The Beginning of the End

The Renaissance Plan may be on hold right now, but that doesn't mean that the final phase of the Santiago Street Lofts is.

This week, trenching began for 3 new buildings that are scheduled for completion in about 150 days. It looks like my little bird was right about construction resuming early this year.

In addition, the sales office has also reopened after a winter hiatus.
Their hours are from: 10AM-4PM, Thursday through Sunday.

If you're looking to buy at the Santiago Street Lofts, be sure to tell them Ben sent you–I hear there's a sweet referral bonus :)

Could Be Nothing

The other day while I was out for a walk in the hood, I noticed a loader (middle of image on the right) working in a fenced parcel located just around the corner from the Santiago Street Lofts (corner of Garfield Street and Santa Ana Boulevard).

It looked as if the worker was breaking-up large clumps of asphalt and probably wasn't anything major, but it's nice to see some activity happening in those city-owned lots.

In the meantime, I'll put a call in with Ray Lirette to see if he has the skinny.

*UPDATE: Ray returned my call and informed me that no construction will be happening on those lots anytime soon, but rather they are being used as storage for other street and sewage projects. Bummer.

He Said, She Said

Back in 2005, before the completion of the first phase at the Santiago Street Lofts, I heard a lot of rumors in regards to the city, the surrounding neighborhoods, the loft development itself, and projects that were supposedly in the works to support this and future nearby developments.

Whether or not what I heard was a rumor, conjecture or simply flat-out a lie, here are some of the fairytales that I remember hearing, but have yet to (or possibly never) come to fruition.

• Nearby restaurants and shops were in the works, scheduled for completion in early 2009


• Well-lit streets all the way down to downtown Santa Ana


• A streetcar or trolley line was to be installed running from the train depot to downtown


• The CenterLine light rail project was still alive


• A shuttle service would run on the weekends from the lofts to Proof bar


• The trees in the SSL community courtyard would eventually grow


• The Mayor really cares about the Santiago Street Lofts and will do anything to ensure its survival


• The Santiago Street Loft development would be completed by early 2008


• Taco Neza “poisons” anyone who looks non-Hispanic


• Cable railing was going to be an option for the third-floor loft


• The association covers any graffiti–even on the roll-up doors


• The city will power-wash the sidewalks on a monthly basis


• Metered parking was to be allowed on Santa Ana Blvd


• A coffee house and (small) grocery at the NE corner of Santa Ana Boulevard and Santiago


• A pedestrian bridge was to connect over the blvd near Poinsettia


• It’s safe to park your car on the streets

What were you told? What do you believe?