Santa Ana, CA Economic Overview
The county seat and second largest city in Orange County, the city of Santa Ana offers a great amount of opportunity for businesses and investors alike. Within a short driving distance to Los Angeles and Anaheim, Santa Ana provides the ability to reach a large market within a community that is heavily populated. As part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, Santa Ana’s commercial real estate market is as busy as its heavily populated neighbor.
Due to its proximity to other major economic markets, Santa Ana’s economy is linked, both officially and unofficially, into the Los Angeles metropolitan area. In official records, Santa Ana is grouped in with Los Angeles, as part of the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana metropolitan area. Santa Ana’s economy is centered around a series of major corporations—notably Rickenbacker musical instruments, Behr Paint, and CoreLogic—but has started to officially invest in business development to keep pace with the economic growth seen in Irvine in recent years. Given the beneficial atmosphere provided by the Santa Ana government for business development, there is plenty of opportunity for business in the area.
Santa Ana, CA Commercial Real Estate Market
Due to its proximity and links to Los Angeles, Santa Ana well connected to the biggest manufacturing center in the Western United States. More importantly, with the competition recently seen from Irvine, Santa Ana’s plans on business development open up opportunities for businesses to join in on that network and benefit from it. Office markets and commercial real estate are blooming in the area.
South Coast Metro consists of new residential, office, and retail real estate that has expanded business in the area. Located close to John Wayne Airport, South Coast Metro’s real estate is perfect for businesses needing office space. With several existing high rises,and more planned to be erected, the South Coast Metro commercial real estate market is a great place to check out. South Coast Plaza, a major retail space is the primary attraction in the area.
The Downtown Santa Ana office market accommodates the finance, legal, retail, and multifamily sectors. Downtown Santa Ana also contains the Santa Ana Civic Center, which contains a cluster of administrative buildings for the city and county. Real estate for further development of business in the area is occurring at pace with laws that aim to preserve historic structures in the area.
Midtown Santa Ana is Santa Ana’s destination for entertainment. Its primary real estate is taken up by the Bowers Museum, MainPlace Mall, and the Discovery Science Center. In between these are locations for commercial real estate and retail spaces.
Metro East is currently being planned for new business development. Metro East’s commercial real estate is taken up by office towers, with the planned development being in retail and housing real estate. Besides the extant towers, Metro East is also the location of the Santa Ana Zoo, a location that brings in tourism due to its world famous residents.
Santa Ana, CA Office Rental Rates ($/SF/year)
Data provided by Yardi Matrix, for properties larger than 50K SF.
Santa Ana, CA Office Sales
Data provided by Yardi Matrix, for properties larger than 50K SF, which sold at over $5M.
Santa Ana, CA Commercial Inventory Breakdown
Office Spaces
Total: 11,774,846 SF
By square footage range:
- 50k to 100k SF: 2,596,176 SF / 22.05% of total office
- 100k to 500k SF: 7,780,800 SF / 66.08% of total office
- 500k to 1M SF: 1,397,870 SF / 11.87% of total office
By class:
- Class A+: 647,870 SF / 5.5% of total office
- Class A: 3,456,937 SF / 29.36% of total office
- Class B: 6,387,394 SF / 54.25% of total office
- Class C: 293,559 SF / 2.49% of total office
Industrial
Total: 14,849,267 SF
By square footage range:
- 50k to 100k SF: 4,078,657 SF / 27.47% of total industrial
- 100k to 500k SF: 10,269,985 SF / 69.16% of total industrial
- 500k to 1M SF: 500,625 SF / 3.37% of total industrial
By class:
- Class A: 4,344,544 SF / 29.26% of total industrial
- Class B: 10,023,546 SF / 67.5% of total industrial
- Class C: 368,692 SF / 2.48% of total industrial
Office Spaces with Retail
Total: 6,890,229 SF
By square footage range:
- 50k to 100k SF: 1,849,613 SF / 26.84% of total office with retail
- 100k to 500k SF: 2,717,596 SF / 39.44% of total office with retail
- 500k to 1M SF: 923,020 SF / 13.4% of total office with retail
- > 1M SF: 1,400,000 SF / 20.32% of total office with retail
Employment in Santa Ana, CA
At pace with the other areas of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, Santa Ana’s unemployment rate has dropped in the past six years to 4%. Since it is closely linked to Anaheim and other areas around L.A., the largest employer of residents in Santa Ana is the Walt Disney Corporation at 27,000. Kaiser Permanente also employs thousands in the area, along with other hospital systems—namely St. Joseph Health, which employs 12,227.
The second largest employer in Santa Ana is located in its neighboring community: the University of California, Irvine. Employing over 22,000 people, with many living in the Santa Ana area, it is a major employer for both Santa Ana and Orange County in general.
Nearby corporations also employ a large number of individuals living in the Santa Ana area. Besides Walt Disney Corporation, the area is also home to a Boeing Plant and major Bank of America and Target offices. Together, they employ close to 17,000 local residents.
Education in Santa Ana, CA
Santa Ana is served by the Santa Ana Unified School District, which is comprised of fifty-four schools. They also have five special schools and one charter school. There are private schools in the area as well, most notably the Catholic High School Mater Dei High School and a number of elementary schools.
There are several colleges in the area as well, with many universities operating on a correspondence basis being particularly relevant in the area. Santa Ana College is the local community college, with the area also containing the California Coast University and an Orange County Branch of the Art Institute of California. The correspondence schools include Taft Law School, Trinity Law School, and the Detective Training Institute.
Commuting Time in Santa Ana, CA
Santa Ana is well connected by a series of major roads and highways, which connect the city to Los Angeles. The Santa Ana Freeway runs north towards Los Angeles and south to San Diego. The Garden Grove Freeway connects the city to Long Beach. The Riverside Freeway connects the city to Riverside.
Santa Ana is also connected through a variety of other means. Amtrak maintains a station in the city on the line that connects San Diego and Los Angeles. The city has a well maintain bus system and is in the beginning phases of constructing a street car system between Santa Ana Station and Downtown Santa Ana.
With the amount of options for getting around in Santa Ana along with its location outside of LA, but not quite in its “bad traffic zone,” leads to a commute time that, while at times busy, is better than Los Angeles.
Santa Ana Demographics
Population
- Total Population332,794
- Male Population(51.0 %) 169,868
- Female Population(49.0 %) 162,926
- Median Age31.80
Income/Financial
- Average Household Income$83,472
- Median Household Income$66,145
- Median Income Under 25$48,169
- Median Income 25-44$61,987
- Median Income 45-64$76,616
- Median Income Over 65$51,301
News
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