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If you were to build L.A. Live now, how would you make the mid-aughts entertainment district better? Maybe a little less concrete and a little more greenery? Some improved casual food options? A more seamlessly connected transit stop?
The folks behind Anaheim’s OCVIBE sure seem to have studied its northern neighbor, because the under-construction 100-acre district surrounding the Honda Center can answer “yes” to all of those questions. The first phase of the $5 billion project—including a still-untitled 5,000-person concert venue situated right next to the existing NHL arena—won’t open until next year, but I was invited to take a hard-hat tour last week. And while it’s still very much under construction, it doesn’t require much imagination to see this becoming a regional destination that could even drag Angelenos across county lines.
There’s a lot going on at OCVIBE, so here’s the quickest version possible: All of the old parking lots surrounding the Honda Center are being turned into a mix of restaurants, plazas, offices, hotels, parking garages and residential units—plus the previously mentioned concert hall. The Samueli Family, which owns the Anaheim Ducks, has invested $4 billion into the project, plus another billion dollars of improvements to the city-owned Honda Center.
The hotels, residences and revival of bygone nightclub Golden Bear won’t start arriving until 2028, and that’s also when the footbridge that connects the ARTIC train station with the bulk of the development should be ready, though the meandering meadow in front of the transit stop isn’t slated until 2029—sorry Olympic volleyball attendees. The six or seven full-service restaurants, including Roy Choi’s Las Vegas–born spot, Best Friend, will arrive sooner, starting in the fall of 2027.
But the 21-vendor food hall Katella Commons, office building the Weave and the brand-new concert hall are comparatively all right around the corner with a March 2027 opening date. All of these exteriors appeared pretty much complete during my late-July visit, though the leafy plaza that’ll connect them—which will sport a 140-by-30-foot screen capable of broadcasting live from both adjacent venues—was still just a dirt pile for now. And inside the Populous-designed concert hall (that’s the folks who tackled Vegas’ Sphere), though the industrial-leaning, music-inspired fixtures and finishes had yet to be installed, the bones of the auditorium were all there, including the 1,700 or so balcony seats.
There’s no single L.A. music venue I can closely compare the concert hall to; instead it’s kind of a Goldilocks of theater and club characteristics. To return to the L.A. Live similarities, it borrows the multipurpose layout and screen-flanked stage of the Peacock Theater (though it’s not nearly as cavernous) with the general admission dance floor and near-balcony intimacy of the Novo.
There’s a little bit of the Hollywood Palladium here, too: It’s much wider than it is deep, so the seated balcony sections don’t feel terribly far from the stage, while a standing-room-only top-tier balcony offers a bird’s-eye view from either side. (It’ll likely vary from performance to performance whether that standing section is specifically ticketed or open to all.) For folks on the floor, there’s a dedicated entry that dumps out right next to the stage, and—huge news for stans set on getting barricade—access to a proper bathroom while you wait to get in.
The venue isn’t tied to any specific promoter and no shows have been announced yet, but you can expect a mix of music and comedy performances, plus awards shows, banquets and maybe even the odd sporting event or two (during my tour, I was told that the floor could fit a basketball or volleyball court). As far as the caliber of events, the seating capacity holds about a thousand fewer people than the Greek Theatre or YouTube Theater.
Regardless of the programming, expect a bar pretty much everywhere you turn, with eight total in the venue. You’ll also find the Gallagher Club, a VIP lounge with a pretty boast-worthy outdoor terrace, and the ground-floor Stretto Café, a daytime dining spot that transitions into a pre-show lounge underneath the 62-foot-tall metallic Stretto installation.
I didn’t get to tour any of the other buildings or peep on the progress at the spacious plaza on the Honda Center’s south side, but I did get to partake in what I think is a pretty compelling part of the OCVIBE experience: I took the train there. Oh, don’t worry, there’s plenty of parking; almost the entire west side of the development is lined with multilevel garages. But the curved, colorful ARTIC station is just across Katella Avenue from the development—less than a 10-minute walk from the platform to the heart of OCVIBE. My 45-minute Metrolink ride from Downtown L.A.’s Union Station cost $8.75; return service stops after rush hour, so you’ll need to make it onto an Amtrak train ($16) by just after 11pm for the ride back. Why bother diving into these details now? Because, Angelenos, you just might find yourself itching to venture over here in the not-too-distant future.