On May 17, 2023, the City of Santa Ana was honored with a 2023 Award of Excellence by the Orange Section of the American Planning Association (APA) for the Legacy Square apartments project. This recognition was in the Excellence for the Innovation in Green Planning category.
Legacy Square is a new affordable, multifamily apartment community that offers 93 high-quality apartment homes – 30 one-bedrooms, 39 two-bedrooms, and 24 three-bedrooms. The transit-oriented development replaced two underutilized buildings owned by the Santa Ana Methodist Church in the downtown area. The project was approved with support from the City Council, Planning Commission, and consensus among multiple stakeholder groups.
Offsite improvements include almost $10 million in sustainable transportation improvements that boast bicycle lanes and pedestrian safety improvements for safer routes to school, urban greening components including a pocket park and street trees, and funding for programs to promote the use of local public transportation. The waitlist to apply to live at Legacy Square is closed.
This award marks the project’s second recognition for the City, including the 2023 Sustainability Award, awarded by the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) on May 4, 2023. Read more about the 2023 SCAG Sustainability Awards at https://scag.ca.gov/news/scag-honors-seven-innovative-projects-its-2023-sustainability-awards. The awards join many others awarded to the City for its innovative and high-quality Planning efforts in the past decade.