Drivers for Multi-Use Development in OC

Litwak points out that Anaheim’s Platinum Triangle is undergoing a significant expansion of office, retail and residential stock in an effort to redefine the area as a highly urbanized, residential and business hub and that a similar transformation is happening at the Irvine Business District.

COSTA MESA, CA—The number of consumers with disposable income and the emotional/social element of multi-use projects are a couple of reasons these developments are heating up in the Orange County market, Housing on Merit’s executive director Jennifer Litwak tells GlobeSt.com. Litwak will be speaking on the panel “Multi-Use: Ways to Merge the Retail, Office and Multi-Family Sectors” during RealShare Orange County on Aug. 24. We caught up with her to discuss this topic and the types of multi-use developments that are in demand in this market.

Litwak says the drivers for multi-use development in Orange County are many, including the number of consumers in this market, the disposable income of consumers, the financial incentives that mixed-use brings to businesses and the reduced risk to investors due to diversity versus a single-asset type investment. She says the emotional and social elements to these projects and the live/work/play aspect of them help foster a sense of community and a walkable urban experience within these projects.