Demolition of the dilapidated office building at 2525 N. Main St. to start soon

The City of Santa Ana has announced the pending demolition of the dilapidated office building located at 2525 N. Main St. The owner of that building will be spearheading the demolition.

By now there should have been a luxury apartment building at that location but the NIMBYs in the adjacent Park Santiago Neighborhood succeeded in cancelling that development when current Mayor of Santa Ana Vince Sarmiento flipped his vote, after fellow Councilman David Penaloza did the same.

Stopping the development however did not pan out well for the neighborhood as the empty building has become a refuge for drug users and other vagrants. The developer initially paid for security guards at night then tried to just board up the building but the local homeless kept breaking in. They could be seen at night streaming into the building.

The City of Santa Ana granted a demolition permit on March 15, 2021. The scope of the demolition application includes the demolition of the building and capping of onsite utilities. No subsurface soil or site grading work were approved under the permit issued by the City. After the approved demolition work has been completed, the site is to be fenced, secured, and maintained on an ongoing basis.

The property owner anticipates preparation work for the demolition of the building will begin the week of March 29th and will start with the clearing of the building interior and capping of utilities. The demolition of the building will follow soon after.

According to the City of Santa Ana, the property owner of 2525 N. Main is entitled to and applied for a permit to demolish the building to address the nuisance concerns on the property. A demolition permit is an over-the-counter permit that may be obtained by any property owner prior to initiating the demolition of an existing structure.

The City of Santa Ana also stated that the property is a public nuisance and has been a source of numerous community and public safety concerns since 2019. The City adheres to code enforcement procedures from the Santa Ana Municipal Code to obtain compliance by the property owner. The City issued multiple Administrative Citations and fines culminating in a Notice to Abate Public Nuisance issued to the owner by the City on February 4, 2021. As part of the due process, the City also presented the Notice to Abate at a Public Nuisance Hearing conducted on March 15, 2021. The City is awaiting the determination by a Hearing Officer, which is due within 30 days from the date of the hearing. If the decision is in the City’s favor, it will enable the City to pursue an inspection and abatement warrant with the courts.

The City of Santa Aa did not change its enforcement procedures on this property from standard protocols to abate a public nuisance on private properties. Similar to 2525 N. Main, the locations listed below were recent vacant-property sites of continual complaints associated with transients, trash, debris, and the property owners’ inability to properly secure or maintain. All received notices and escalated fines and resulting in a Notice to Abate issued by the City. These property owners, as with the property owner of 2525 N. Main, opted to demolish the boarded structures. This action greatly reduced the city calls for service at those locations.

• 1821 N. Grand Ave., (Marie Calendar’s site)
• 2107 E. 17th St. (Knowlwood’s)
• 1703 E. 17th St. (Monroe’s Furniture)
• 2056 W. Civic Center (residential)

The demolition of the site will not allow the previously approved apartment project to be developed on the property. The demolition permit has nothing to do with the contested project planned on the site. The approval of the apartment project was rescinded by the City Council in May of 2020.

The demolition of the site will not allow a new housing development to occur. The demolition of the building does not change the fact that the current Professional zoning of the property does not permit any residential uses.

Noise sources associated with demolition activities are prohibited between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. on weekdays, including Saturday, or any time on Sunday or a federal holiday. For noise concerns relating to demolition activities you may call (714) 834-4211.