Anaheim Is More Than Just Disneyland, and This $4B Project Hopes to Prove It

An ambitious new project is under construction in Orange County, and it’s one that could help visitors know the city for live entertainment as much as theme parks. The Samueli family, best known as the owners of the Anaheim Ducks, are financing a project called OCVIBE – and it’s projected to be the largest entertainment venue in the United States when completed.

According to plans for the venue, OCVIBE is intended to be an urban hub for all of Southern California, where locals and visitors can hang out, dine, and catch some of the best performances in the world. Developers hope to be done with the buildings by 2028, and hope it’ll turn the area into an all-day and all-night community space that blends entertainment and everyday living.

The venue

OCVIBE will be built around the Honda Center, a sports stadium with an 18,000-plus-person capacity. According to developers, the goal is to expand this existing hockey rink and concert venue, built in 1993, into communal space, residential space, and entertainment complexes that’ll appeal to a wide range of audiences, not just tourists.

The architects are a team with plenty of experience in LA design. Developers hired the Smith-Clementi architectural firm for the project. Leads Julie Smith-Clementi and Frank Clementi worked on projects at the famous Hollywood Bowl and LA’s Grand Park, among other iconic destinations. According to the firm, the goal is to have excitement start building as soon as guests arrive via design choices like bright colors and large entrances with an event-type feel.

Currently, Anaheim is known primarily as the home of Disneyland, which receives approximately 50,000 visitors a day. In 2024, 17.3 million people went to Disneyland; about twice the population of New York City. But very few of them venture outside the amusement park to see the city it calls home. And most of the money spent on a Disney trip stays in the Disney ecosystem.

After OCVIBE is built, the hope is that tourists and Californians from the surrounding areas may want to spend a little more time in Anaheim itself.

New offerings planned for OCVIBE

A rendering of the dining area, Katella Commons. Photo: OC VIBE Media Room

Spread out over 95 to 100 acres, OCVIBE will include futuristic event spaces, eclectic dining areas, lush public parks and plazas, three miles of walking trails, several hotels, and residences and office spaces.

One of the highlights of the development will be a 5,000-plus capacity dedicated concert space, separate from the current venue within the existing Honda Center. The new space is designed to optimize acoustics and the guest experience. The current Honda Center can accommodate larger acts, but isn’t optimized for sound and stage performances.

Visitors who come in for games and concerts can make a day out of it by spending time before and after enjoying dinner and drinks in the sunny California weather. Foodies will be happy to know that OCVIBE is planned to contain more than 35 new dining venues once it’s finished. The most intriguing dining area is a proposed market hall called Katella Commons, with restaurant stalls for 21 different restaurants and chefs, creating a lively, communal atmosphere.

Katella Commons will be run under the guidance of Chef Rémi Lauvand, the former Director of Culinary Operations at Universal Studios Hollywood. It’ll also have six bars, including a Vesper Lounge for Japanese-meets-Scandinavian-inspired drinks, a 1970s-themed cocktail lounge, and Bar Barcelona, focused on amaro and wines.

Public spaces

LA is famous for year-round excellent weather, and visitors who want to enjoy it will have their choice of 20 parks and plazas. The idea is to create accessible, free, and welcoming spaces for everybody, since according to the venue’s site, one of the motivations for building OCVIBE is to give “Orange County the downtown they deserve.”

More than three miles of walking trails will connect the various parts of the complex, since the developers’ vision is to make this huge space easily navigable without cars.

Hotels and living space

As of now, the idea is to have two on-site hotels open by 2028, providing a total of 500 eco-friendly hotel rooms. However, the development is not all, or even mostly, about tourism. Developers will include over 2,000 residences in the complex, and according to provisions in the development plan approved by Anaheim City Council, 15 percent of the units will be designated for affordable housing. Plans show the residential area of OCVIBE covering roughly 40 percent of the total space.

Who is OCVIBE for?

Photo: OC VIBE Media Room

The idea is to not only make OCVIBE a gathering point for locals, but to make this new space a destination for Californians and visitors alike. People coming in to see their favorite bands, catch a Ducks game, or get a break from the crowds at Disneyland can spend an afternoon exploring the massive new complex.

OCVIBE is being built around the Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center (ARTIC), allowing Angelenos to access OCVIBE on public transit. ARTIC is a massive transportation hub that connects Amtrak service, Metrolink, and both local and intercity buses.

The development also includes thousands of square feet of office and business space, indicating developers are hoping the restaurants, apartments, and public transportation hubs will encourage employers and retail businesses to move into the area.

Will residents benefit from OCVIBE?

While this question is something that can only be definitively answered after OCVIBE fully opens, the team behind it is projecting significant economic benefits to the area.

Direct financial benefits include a projected $9.2 million in tax revenue for Anaheim, as well as $255 million in public benefits, like the public spaces and improvements to the ARTIC hub. Though building the venue is expensive (the current projected cost stands at around $4 billion), all sources point to it being almost fully privately financed, without needing taxpayer money. The only government financing is $400 million in city-issued bonds. Since those are secured by Honda Center revenue, it still doesn’t fall on the shoulders of Anaheim residents.

So while the direct cost of construction will not be borne by the local community, the benefits will hopefully still go to local businesses and area taxpayers. Comments from locals on sites like Reddit are generally positive, if cautiously curious, with many praising the plans for a dedicated concert venue and trying to encourage use of the ARTIC system.

OCVIBE opening date

A rendering of the new concert hall. Photo: OC VIBE Media Room

The current plan is to have the whole venue up and running sometime in 2028. Certain phases of the complex, like the public parks and plazas, are projected to be completed even sooner, perhaps as early as the beginning of 2027.

Considering there will be Olympic events held in the area (the Honda Center is hosting indoor volleyball tournaments), opening before the ceremonies begin on July 14, 2028, would be ideal. While no specific opening date has been given, it’s likely developers are eyeing the Olympics as an ideal time to introduce regional and international guests to OCVIBE and its offerings.

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