Careful Planning Led to Multi-Billion-Dollar Investment

Woodhead: “We’ll do our CEQA analysis and put all of that in place, so if someone comes in with a project that fits within the window of what we’ve created, they can get started quite rapidly.”

ANAHEIM, CA—Anaheim has a history of taking large geographic areas and planning them out, including creating an entitlement envelope that allows developers to minimize delays, community development director John Woodhead tells GlobeSt.com. As we recently reported, about $6 billion in investment is coming to Anaheim around the city’s world-famous theme parks and in and around Angel Stadium of Anaheim. The investment includes the addition of Stars Wars-themed land at Disneyland Park, four new luxury hotels and other lodging, expansion of the Anaheim Convention Center, plus new homes, shopping, dining, offices and hotels at the Platinum Triangle around Angel Stadium. This level of investment in Anaheim is among the largest in the US and reflects ongoing planning by the city of Anaheim to enhance its visitor industry on a global scale and to create an urban village built around sports, entertainment, jobs and public transit.

We spoke exclusively with Woodhead about the expansion, why now is the right time for it and the next steps.