SANTA ANA, Calif. – The City of Santa Ana is on pace to meet and exceed its State-mandated housing goals well ahead of the 2029 deadline, thanks to a business-friendly development planning process and over $60 million in affordable housing investments by the City over the past decade.
The City has already issued 74% of the building permits for new housing units required of it by the State of California less than three years into the eight-year planning period for the 6th Cycle Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA). Under the Santa Ana City Council’s leadership, the City has prioritized a mixture of market-rate and affordable units, as well as both rental units and homes for sale, to serve the community’s needs and to create generational wealth.
“Despite being one of the most densely populated cities in California, the City of Santa Ana has shown that through innovation and political will we can create much-needed new housing opportunities for residents of all income levels,” Mayor Valerie Amezcua said. “Santa Ana is both a place where people want to live and where developers want to invest.”
The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) requires Santa Ana to plan and issue building permits for the construction of 3,137 new housing units between 2021 and 2029. The City has already issued building permits for 690 units that are affordable to very low, low, and moderate-income households, respectively, and 3,487 market rate units. In total, from January 2021 to December 2023, the City issued 4,177 building permits for housing units.
This is the result of years of work by City Planning and Building Agency staff to update the General Plan, which the City Council approved in 2022, to serve as a roadmap for future development. In that same year, the 6th Cycle Housing Element (2021-2029) of the General Plan was completed and certified by HCD. During the previous RHNA cycle from 2013 to 2021, Santa Ana was one of only about 20 cities statewide to meet the State’s housing goals.
Over the past 10 years, the City has provided over $60 million in financial assistance to develop 18 affordable housing projects, creating nearly 1,000 affordable units for lower-income residents. City leaders continue to prioritize the provision of affordable housing opportunities for lower-income individuals as a key objective for the City of Santa Ana.
Just a few of the many housing projects completed since 2021 or near completion are:
- La Placita Cinco, an award-winning, 50-unit affordable housing development supported by $6 million in City funding
- Legacy Square, a mixed-use development with 93 affordable apartments and community space that sits on the new OC Streetcar route (2024 Project of the Year)
- Crossroads at Washington, a 100% affordable multi-family development with 85 units currently under construction
- The Rafferty, a mixed-use development with 218 apartments, including 11 units for very low income families, that will bring new residents to the heart of the downtown Santa Ana business district
- The Row at Redhill, a mixed-use project with 1,100 multi-family residential units and up to 80,000 square feet of commercial retail and restaurant space
- Paloma, a completed multi-family development that offers 309 rental units next to MainPlace Mall
Click here for a map of all major projects currently in various stages of development in Santa Ana.
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About Santa Ana
Santa Ana is downtown for the world famous Orange County, California. It is the County Seat and home to a vibrant evening scene and arts community. About 1,400 City employees work hard every day to deliver efficient public services in partnership with our community to ensure public safety, a prosperous economic environment, opportunities for our youth, and a high quality of life for residents. Learn more at www.santa-ana.org.
