OC Vibe Creating Anaheim Building Boom

It’s the talk of Orange County. OC Vibe, the $4 billion-dollar mixed-use development project rising up in Anaheim’s Platinum Triangle is transforming the 100 acres around the Honda Center, home of the Anaheim Ducks, and the ARTIC transportation hub into a family-friendly entertainment and business destination.

Once completed, Orange County’s largest privately funded project will feature entertainment, shopping, 35 different restaurants, hotels, apartments, parks, open space, multiple multi-level parking structures, and a security hub.

The mammoth project, which began nearly three years ago in 2023, currently employs hundreds of union electricians, working alongside another 10,000 trades men and women across all crafts. The complex is expected to be completed in 2030.

“It’s the biggest and coolest project going on in Orange County,” said CSAEW president Neal Lauzon, Business Manager of IBEW 441. “Everyone’s talking about it. My neighbors and friends ask me about the project all the time.”

But most important, Lauzon stressed, “OC Vibe has been a real boon to our local, with six of our contractors on site employing hundreds of our members and apprentices. This project will keep them employed for years to come. And best of all its all being built under a Project Labor Agreement (PLA).”

The private project is being underwritten by Anaheim Ducks owners Henry and Susan Samueli and is expected to be a year-round destination for local residents and a catalyst for the growing region.

Blueprints for the complex include 560,000 square feet of office space, more than 2,000 residential apartments, including more than 300 affordable units, hotels, an additional 5,600 person concert hall and several smaller venues and 56,000 square feet of retail space.

Electrical contractors include Anderson Howard, Apollo Electric, Baker, Briggs, Rosendin and Unison.

Concert Hall 

Anderson Howard General Foreman Juan Guzman is excited to be working on the unique and high-tech project. “My crew of 30 is working on three different projects: the Concert Hall/Boxing Ring, the Security Hub and Market Hall. The Concert Hall will host latest events in addition to the Honda Center. The security hub is the brains for all the parking garages and comms and security. And Market Hall will be restaurants and office space.”

Guzman, who has been on the project for the past year-and-a-half, said he started when there was just dirt, planning the underground power and lighting. “I’ve been here from rough in stages to skeleton frames,” he said.

“It’s a unique and challenging project – one of the most technologically advanced and coolest project I’ve worked on with a lot of innovative design. There’s a lot of real WOW factors. We’re putting in theatrical lighting into the concert hall, working closely with the architects and lighting consultants. Its real cutting-edge technology in lighting and performance. Even the speakers have lights inside.”

The biggest challenge, he said, is coordinating all the lighting controls, power and fixtures from the various countries and vendors  with different amperage.

“But the big thing for us in what we call the ‘dance floor’ – a 250×250 foot temporary platform suspended by steel struts 60 feet in the air hanging so we can install the conduit racks and light fixtures 80 feet in the air,” Guzman said.

He’s proud that the project is the talk of the town. “My neighbors all stop me and ask for photos and updates on the project,” he laughed. He’s looking forward to completing phase 2 of the project and starting on phase 3, which will be the residential build out.

He was also pleased the security hub won a NECA award for innovation earlier this year. The 35-year union member said, “I am proud to be part of the OC Vibe projects and work alongside the dedicated team members of Anderson Howard Electric.  This project can only come to life with the collaboration of OC Vibe and the talented members of our company.” 

He credits his local, IBEW 441, with providing “me and our foremen with the training and education to be leaders in such complex project as OC Vibe Concert Hall.” 

Market Hall 

For Anderson Howard General Foreman Cory Shepard, OC Vibe is his biggest job he’s tackled as a crew leader. His crew of 32 electricians, including 10 low voltage workers, is currently working on the Market Hall restaurants and offices.

“My crew is awesome. We have good talent from the hall. There’s a lot of camaraderie – we all want to get to the finish line. We’re aiming for November 2026 for tentative move in for the Market Hall and restaurants.”

The job has its share of challenges and unique aspects, he said. “We’re using mass timber, which is a wood composite construction, instead of steel beams. It’s an exposed wood look. It’s new for us. We’ve never worked with this material before. We’re also working with custom finish on the arches and ceilings for light fixtures. It’s turning out really awesome.”

For Shepard, a second generation IBEW member, the job has been one of the most gratifying of his career: “This is a landmark job, a once in a lifetime career opportunity. It’s very gratifying when you see it all come together, when you’ve worked through all the issues. It’s a whole new aspect for OC. It’s a central hub for shows and entertainment.”

The 11-year union member also gets his share of bragging rights and cool dad cred for working on the job. “My kids like to watch the building go up on You Tube.”

The Crew 

Kyle Anderson, an IBEW 441 journeyman with Howard Anderson is part of a crew of 30 electricians who have been working on the Security Hub, Concert Hall and Market Hall. “It’s the biggest project I’ve ever worked on. It’s very cool,” said the six-year union member who just journeyed out a year ago. It’s a project he’s proud of to share with his kids and show them what he’s built.

“It’s been a fun project. Every day is challenging,” he said. “I like starting a project in dirt and then seeing in through as the whole job comes together – and finally with lights on.” He’s been taking the time pressure and inspection schedule in stride. His favorite part? “The data center we’re building out for the security hub, which will be the brains of the project, is very cool.”

“It’ll be exciting when done and complete – a fun place to hang with my family or before games and concert.”

On another Anderson Howard team, Tommy Blalock, Jr., a seven-year union journeyman, has been working at OC Vibe for the past year as part of a crew of 45 members. “His crew has been working on the Security Hub, Concert Hall, and on the main electrical room,” he said.

His favorite part of the job: pulling in feeder lines and running the big pipe with the single line to power up the whole job. “I love seeing it from beginning to end,” he noted. And he’s learning a lot. “I’m setting gear for the first time. It’s new me and I’m learning. We have a good foreman at Anderson Howard which makes the job run smoothly.”

Looking back over his career, Blalock said joining the IBEW was a great choice. “Previously I was a non-union carpenter. I definitely prefer being an electrician to a carpenter. It’s given me challenges and made me able to provide for my family.”