OCVIBE Anaheim：全新娱乐区如何重塑会议与活动格局

Discover how OCVIBE, Anaheim’s new $5 billion-plus mixed-use entertainment district, is reshaping meetings and events via its flexible venues, dining, arts and live entertainment for groups of every size.

Meetings Today's Tyler Davidson touched base with Visit Anaheim chief Mike Waterman and Scott Frick, senior vice president of real estate and district operations for OCVIBE, to get all the details behind this game-changing Southern California project as it relates to meetings and events and beyond.

Listen now:

Learn more about OCVIBE:

• Why the Future Is ‘Golden’ for Anaheim Meetings and Conventions
• California Meetings Destinations on the Rise: Anaheim, Ontario and Santa Ana
• Anaheim Unveils a "Golden Decade" for Meetings
• Anaheim Is Building on Its Momentum as a Top Meetings Destination

Five key takeaways:

1. OCVIBE reflects a growing trend: Sports districts are evolving beyond game-day venues into mixed-use, year-round destinations; the interview cites 23 similar North American projects under construction or in permitting, up from four a year earlier.
2. The Anaheim project is designed as a complete district: The roughly 100-acre, privately funded development will combine arenas, restaurants, parks, walking trails, arts and entertainment and hotels—complementing Disneyland and filling a gap in Anaheim’s evening offerings.
3. It aims to make meetings easier and more flexible: Single ownership offers planners one point of contact and contract, with options ranging from small gatherings to conferences and full-district buyouts.
4. The experience is expected to encourage longer visits: Attractions such as the 100,000-square-foot teamLab museum, live events, dining and free parking are intended to appeal to varied audiences and give visitors more reasons to stay in Anaheim.
5. Opening will happen in phases: The first venues and food hall are planned to open in March 2027, with more offerings—including teamLab—following through 2029 and the full district expected to be completed after 2030.

Transcript:

Editor's note: The following transcription was facilitated by AI and proofed by our editors. Although it is fairly accurate, there inevitably will be some mistakes, so please consider that when reading. Thank you.

Tyler Davidson  

Hello and welcome to this Meetings Today podcast. I'm Tyler Davidson, Vice President and Chief Content Director of Meetings Today, and really happy to be joined by Mike Waterman, the President and CEO of Visit Anaheim. How are you doing today, Mike?

Mike Waterman  

I'm awesome, Tyler. Thanks for having me.

Tyler Davidson  

We were both just talking about what great weather we have here in California. You can't beat it, right?

Mike Waterman  

It's phenomenal. Absolutely, best place I've ever lived, and I've lived in a lot of places.

Tyler Davidson  

Excellent. Well, you guys have put out a very interesting white paper called "From Arenas to Neighborhoods," and you know, with your huge OCVIBE project coming in, I mean, $5-$6 billion, privately financed. It's a good time for this. Why don't you tell us more about this white paper? Why you guys decided to produce it, and maybe some of the findings in it?

Mike Waterman  

Yeah, look, we knew we had something special going on, right? Henry Samueli, who started Broadcom, you know, 20-30 years ago, during COVID, quietly bought up about 100 acres around the Honda Center. They own the Ducks, and started sort of development of what has now become OCVIBE, and we knew it was something special, right? 

This mixed-use development…there's going to be five new venues or four new venues. The Honda Center, which is already there, accommodates almost 20,000 people. They have a 5,000-seat multipurpose arena that's going to open next March, and they're building three other venues: a 3,500-seat arena, a 300-seat arena called the Golden Bear, and then a 1,500-seat outdoor amphitheater area. 

So, we knew we had something special going on, but we wanted to validate it, and that's why we kind of commissioned this white paper, and it literally did exactly that. It validated what these businesses are doing. They're figuring out that it's not just about what it used to be, where you have a stadium, you have a team, people come watch a game, get in their car, and then drive home. People want a kind of an inclusive experience, and this report actually validated. 

I'll give you a quick stat. One year ago, there were four kinds of sports-anchored mixed-use developments under construction in North America. One year ago, there are now 23 under construction or in permitting across North America. That's an almost a 500% increase in one year.

Tyler Davidson  
Yeah, yeah. I mean, and so you guys are right in tune with the times, and you know, I guess it's fortunate you are because it seems like this is something that will make you competitive, or can continue to make you competitive with some of those other projects?

Mike Waterman  

Yeah, you know, look, we have an amazing attraction with Disneyland, right? Anaheim is blessed enough to have Disneyland as a major tourism attraction, and the one thing, Tyler, we were missing in Anaheim is sort of this adult-forward live entertainment sports complex for people to do after the park or instead of the park, and you know we think OCVIBE is a very complementary attraction to Disneyland and just elevates the destination in a way you know really nobody else could, and we're so grateful that the Samuelis have chosen Anaheim to do this.

And you know, we had a reconnect event yesterday, and we had 350 people in the room, and they announced a couple of big announcements. And it's just the development itself is going to be spectacular, and it's sure to be very popular. 

Tyler Davidson

It has all the accouterments, including the Honda Center, how do you make it a year-round option for meetings and events?

Mike Waterman  

Yeah. So, the big announcement that came out yesterday, one of the biggest attractions in Asia, Japan specifically, although it's in China as well…it's a museum. It's a museum called teamLab. I'd never heard of it until about a month ago, and teamLab announced yesterday that they're going to build 100,000-square-foot museum at OCVIBE, it's going to take about three years to build, and when it's complete, it's going to attract between 5,000 and 7,000 visitors a day. 

You know, we see that as an extension of your visitation to Anaheim. So, if you're a family of three, and you plan to come to Anaheim for, let's say, three nights, do Disney a couple nights, and then do OCVIBE for maybe now another night. So, instead of staying three nights, we think you'll stay four. It's that big of an attraction: 36 restaurants, three miles of walking trails, the largest free art installation in North America. It's going to offer something for anyone. 

And in addition to all those great things, the restaurants, the attractions, they're also going to provide 11,000 parking spots at no charge. They're never going to charge parking.

Tyler Davidson  

And how about for meetings and events? Of course, all of this stuff in some form can be pressed into service for meetings and events, right?

Mike Waterman  

Yeah, yeah. I'll give you a specific example. We're hosting IPW in 2030. Last time it was in Anaheim was 2019, just before the pandemic. We're back in the rotation for 2030. 

Matter of fact, we have five major events coming to Anaheim in the next five years. We hosted CDX Conference Direct's annual meeting this year. Next year we do the first-ever Connect event on the West Coast; ‘28 is Maritz Elevate; 29 is MPI WEC, and then we wrap it up in 2030 with, oh my god, IPW. 

So, in IPW we're talking to OCVIBE about doing a full buyout on the closing night. The really attractive piece of that for IPW and U.S. Travel is it's one contract, it's one venue, it's venue that is owned by the same organization. So, one point of sale, everything's easy. So, you're not having to deal with multiple owners of multiple different event space. It's all one owner, one event space. So, it just becomes a much easier contracting process and delivery process.

Tyler Davidson  

And what types of meetings and events do you think will be a good target for you guys to try to get in there? What the best fit for OCVIBE? What type?

Mike Waterman  

There's so many offerings, Tyler. It’s really good for anybody. We do about 56 major citywide conventions a year. We're working with the city. They just did an RFP two weeks ago to connect the ARTIC (Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center) or OCVIBE to the convention center. So, once we figure that out, it's probably going to take two or three years. But once that gets figured out, then the connectivity from OCVIBE to the convention center and ultimately Disney, that's a big game changer for us, and I'm confident we'll get that figured out really in the next year or two. And that's a game changer. 

So, citywide is a natural. It's only two miles from the convention center to OCVIBE, and that's a big connector. But even smaller groups, you know, they have a whiskey barrel restaurant that you know could host 50 people, so you know there's a little bit of everything for everyone, and we're super excited. They're also going to have two hotels and two four-acre parks, and they may even add a third hotel. 

So, there's going to be plenty of options for meeting planners coming to Anaheim.

Tyler Davidson 

Do you envision, you know, maybe in the future that groups may just meet there? I mean, you do robust business at the convention center, and you're always wanting to fill that up in the hotels around it. But if you have three hotels there, entire meetings could just be held there.

Mike Waterman  

Oh yeah, yeah. So the hotels aren’t in the current plan. There's only 500 rooms, two hotels for a collective of only 500 rooms. We certainly could fill that with a combination of leisure and meeting customers. We are talking with them about potentially converting. 

They have a 1,000-room apartment complex that they may convert half of that into meeting space and keep the other half apartments. If they do that, then they'll have double, obviously, the space. They'll have over 1,000, or right at 1,000, hotel rooms, which we think is a better number from a demand perspective because we know the demand is going to be there. 

Because again, this is an amazingly comprehensive mixed-use venue with restaurants and shops and walking trails and parks, and you know it's really going to be a place where people want to come and stay and spend a good amount of their time just enjoying the facility, all outdoors.

Tyler Davidson 

Yeah, and I imagine there's going to be a variety of very unique spaces for events, and probably some that will manifest themselves even after it opens as it keeps going. 

Mike Waterman 

And yeah, they've intentionally curated a lot of public space that you could do food trucks, you could do festivals, you could do you know all kinds of different things. We're in talks with a major promoter about bringing a country western festival to Anaheim, and we're talking to the OCVIBE team about having them host that country music festival. 

So, yeah, there's really going to be, like I said, a little bit of everything for everyone.

Tyler Davidson  

And, as I think you call it, The District is always on with their mix of attractions. What does that mean? And you know, and I bet, like you said, you're going to get that pre and post traffic there also that will keep people in Anaheim even longer.

Mike Waterman  

Yeah, we actually just kind of relaunched our brand and our kind of brand promise is Made to Play, which ties into the Always On scenario. The one challenge we've had in Anaheim when a group or a family or a couple with no kids comes to town and says what can I do after 9o'clock at night and, candidly, there's not a lot of options in Anaheim for that. 

This changes everything, so with all of these venues, you know, OCVIBE becomes that. Like I said, this adult-forward live entertainment district where people can go if they want to. You know, they can go for dinner and then go to a show afterwards. That's a big draw that that fills a void that, candidly, we didn't really have a good solution for, and it fits right into the made-to-play scenario. 

You know, we did a lot of research around Orange County, and when you punched in Orange County into your AI bot and asked for it to present pictures, it was palm trees and beaches and sort of a relaxing, chill vibe. Which, candidly, Anaheim isn't really trying to be that. We're trying to be this always-on, made-to-play scenario. 

When you come to Anaheim, you want to be entertained. You want to have an experience that's authentic to Anaheim, whether that's Disneyland or now OCVIBE. And we're thrilled to be able to offer you really multiple different experiences. You know, if you're a family and kids and want to just do the Disney thing, that's great. 

But we see a ton of crossover. You know, we see people taking—once we figure out the East West Connector component—people going to Disney for the day and then popping over to OCVIBE for dinner and maybe see a show after that, and then spend the night and come back and do something different the next day, whether it's at OCVIBE or Disneyland or Knott's Berry Farm.

Tyler Davidson  

And what is the current timeline on the rollout of it? When, in your dream scenario, when can people start booking space and meetings and signing contracts to meet there.

Mike Waterman  

Yeah, we've already signed multiple contracts for future bookings into the space for buyout space. So, that's happening now. From a time frame, Tyler, next March of 2027, the 5,000-seat capacity concert hall opens. Matter of fact, our annual meeting is March 8, and we're going to be the first event in that building. I don't think we'll sell 5,000 seats, but you know we'll do our best. 

But that's going to start having performances in the month of March, and then literally the next month, the Katella Commons opens. That's a 50,000-square-foot culinary sort of high-end food hall with 21 kitchens. It's going to be 21 chefs all from the L.A./Southern California area, and all authentic, no chains, and it's going to be spectacular. 
And that's literally next March, and then over the next two years, by ‘29, all of the customer-facing offerings for OCVIBE will be open. The last phase, which will be done in probably 2030/2031, is the residential component. They're building over 2,000 residential units, mostly all rental, and that will be the final stage of OVIBE.

Tyler Davidson  

Wow, I'm so looking forward to seeing this. I mean, I've been covering it ever since it was announced, and actually took a tour of the construction site earlier. It’s amazing, and I think people like me who cover this industry love to put the hard hat on and go see the shovels in the ground. 

Mike Waterman  

You know, you'll be able to see come next March—March or April—you'll be able to see, and we've already planned some customer experiences around that, and you know it'll really give you a feel of what the project's going to look like. Very, very futuristic, very art inspired. It's unlike anything I've ever seen, and we're super excited to have Phase One start opening next March.

Tyler Davidson  

And I know this is like just the hugest thing in the world, but you know, how about 10 years in the future? Are you guys talking about even maxing out this concept even more with other sort of dream projects that could come to fruition.

Mike Waterman  

Yeah, there's two crazy things: parallel tracks happening in Anaheim. So, Disneyland announced last October that they're going to double the density of the park. It's the biggest announcement since California Adventure. 

So, they've taken 200 acres of surface parking lots. They've already broken ground, and they're building two large vertical parking garages. And then they're going to add eight to 12 new attractions and a rumored potential third gate. Also, some hotels most likely happening in that 10-year expansion, which is insane, and then last month the announcement that the Kroenke family paid $4 billion to acquire the Angels. That's 150 acres that the Angels sit on that they have every intent to work with the city of Anaheim to develop and create a complementary experience, complementary to OCVIBE. 

So, the next 10 years for Anaheim are literally so bright. Over $20 billion of tourism infrastructure improvement is coming to Anaheim in the next 10 years.

Tyler Davidson  

Well, that is truly amazing. Anything to add for our meeting and event planner audience. I think you've really covered it all, but I just thought I'd ask before we end the podcast today.

Mike Waterman  

Yeah, look, I would say if you haven't been to Anaheim in the last two or three years, schedule your site inspection. We'd love to show you around and show you what's happening. And you know, Anaheim is on this meteoric trajectory from a travel and tourism perspective, and we're super excited about the future, and can't wait to welcome any groups that are interested in coming to the amazing Southern California destination called Anaheim.

Tyler Davidson

And now we're joined by Scott Frick, who is the Senior Vice President of Real Estate and District Operations for OCVIBE. Thanks for joining us, Scott.

Scott Frick  

Thanks, Tyler. Good to be with you.

Tyler Davidson  

And tell us more about this interesting study from Arenas to Neighborhoods. You guys sort of hit this trend right on the mark, right? Courtesy of this giant $5 billion or $6 billion development, OCVIBE. 
Why don't you tell us more about why that was commissioned and authored and what you found out about it, and what sort of points to what trends are in this area.

Scott Frick   

So, the operating thesis is the next generation of sports districts won't be defined by what happens inside the arena. It'll be everything that happens around it, right? And that's our ethos. 

So, OCVIBE is a 100-acre-mixed-used arena anchored destination under development in Anaheim, California. As you mentioned, it's a $5 billion investment. And we will be opening in Q2 of 2027. And we're very excited about it.
The Honda Center was your very traditional suburban arena. You know, it was lit up 100 nights a year but surrounded by a lot of generally vacant surface parking. So, what could we do with that to turn it into a one-stop destination for our guests and make it a 365-day destination instead of a 100-night destination?

And, you know, as you read in the study, the economic benefits are profound. And we believe this is going to be one of, if not the most important investments in Orange County in a generation.

Tyler Davidson   

Oh, for sure. And I know the study said there's 107 projects open. I mean, this is got to be about the most-high profile of all of them, I would think. It's huge. And it's not only going to transform that area, it's going to transform Anaheim as a destination.

Scott Frick   

It will, and what you won't see in the others are very rarely is single ownership across the district itself. Oftentimes, these are planned by one person or one stakeholder and one firm or maybe the city.

But you've got different sources of capital coming in into these districts. You've got your office developer, maybe you've got your retail developer, your housing team, your hotels, maybe the anchor tenant of the arena itself has its own ownership. And it's hard for all of those users to come together to deliver on a single guest experience, right?

Whether it's someone attending a concert or a sporting event, or, you know, I think what's becoming more important to us are groups coming in that want to bring a meeting or an event or a party to one place and have the benefit of all of those different entertainment centers or all of those spaces on a single bill, right? 

Tyler Davidson   

Yeah, single point of contact, right? It's amazingly popular with our audience, for sure.

Scott Frick  

You're absolutely right. And so, you know, how do we get that single experience planned by one team where all of those different spaces and places and experience can be can be coordinated all at once.

This business is really evolved. You know, we didn't start with planning OCVIBE as a great space for groups, right? The intent was community engagement and delivering a great experience for our guests. 

But as the planning of OCVIBE evolved, our existing event business evolved along with it. You know, we've got three great venues today, the Honda Center, ARTIC and the Grove. And that business has grown 10 times just in the three to four year period that we've been planning and developing OCVIBE. 

So, we thought, gee, what an opportunity for us to attract large groups from all over the country and potentially all over the world to come here and experience it.

Tyler Davidson   

I'm guessing you're probably booking groups now. What do you think some of your first clients will be that are coming into there and when will that sort of unveil itself?

Scott Frick   

So, we are the existing home of D23, which is, you know, Disney's signature event that's held every two years. So, they've just held their second D23 this summer. And, you know, we're seeing interest from groups of that size. 

So, phase one will include a purpose-built event space called the Loft. That will hold over 1,000. We've got parks and open space. Our concert hall, which seats 5,000, has a flat floor. So, this can be exhibition space, conference space, entertainment space. It's quite flexible. We will have over 25 food and beverage options in phase one alone, 21 of which are in Katella Commons, our market hall, and five signature restaurants, three of which have been announced.

And that's just in phase one. So, you've got between Honda Center, our concert hall, Katella Commons, and then purpose-built loft space, space for many thousands, 10s of thousands of attendees. As the district grows post-Olympics, we'll deliver our first 320-key hotel, Seno, which is which was also recently announced, a Marriott Autograph flag. We'll have more dining opportunities. 

And then also in 2029, you've probably heard is teamLab, which we just announced last week. It's very exciting. It's A 100,000-plus square foot immersive digital museum destination, and their first exhibition in North America, which will be attached to ARTIC, which is also already a very thriving event and activation space in the district.

So, we will complete construction post-2030 on OCVIBE. The full 100 acres will be built out. And so if you just think of the range of options, from a small cocktail party at one of the six bars in Katella Commons to a full district takeover, all under single ownership, the opportunities are endless in our ability to accommodate very large groups is endless as well.

Tyler Davidson   

And I know Anaheim has a lot of big marquee events coming in the next five years, including IPW, too. And I've heard they may be exploring a full buyout of the District. Maybe explain some of those different buyout options and explore further the different sizes of groups that can scale up or down in the district.

Scott Frick  

Yeah, so you nailed it. Anaheim already welcomes millions of visitors every year into the resort district and into the convention center. But we see an opportunity to introduce new experiences, I would say, that attract different audiences and expand the city's appeal.

Cultural destinations have a unique ability to draw visitors who are looking for something beyond the traditional tourism experiences, right? As an example, teamLabs’ international reputation creates an opportunity to introduce Anaheim to audiences interested in art and design and technology and immersive experiences. 

So, I think that's one of our key differences. 

And then you layer in all the different cultural and live music entertainment options that we'll have in the district, from the Golden Bear, which is 350 seats, up to the Honda Center, which can which can sell out at 18,000. We've got sports, we've got art—a  very robust arts programs in the district. 

So, if you think about it, it could start with a group of 10, you know, that just wants to get together after an event, and that could be a small bar buyout, right? If you think of a multi-day corporate conference that needs access to Katella Commons as a whole, which is 50,000 square feet, plus specialty dining after a large event at Honda Center or concert hall, et cetera. It's very, very flexible. And so, you've got one destination, one relationship, one contract for all of the above, you know, whether it's just a small group outing to you come take over OCVIBE for the week.

Tyler Davidson   
And how about like the connectivity from, say, the convention center or Disneyland out to there? How far away is it from, say, the convention center and the major hotels there? And do you expect the convention center to feed traffic into the district?

Scott Frick   
Absolutely. So, we are about 2 1/2 miles east, straight shot down Katella (avenue) at 10 minutes—10 minutes by California driving standards is very, very close. You know, we can watch the Disneyland fireworks from OCVIBE, right? So, you know, we're that close, and Angel Stadium is right in between us.

So, we have enjoyed and will continue to enjoy that connectivity to the convention center. Certainly, you know, that Visit Anaheim is constantly nurturing those cross-functional relationships with us, the resort district, convention center and any other any other destination in Anaheim.

Tyler Davidson  
And so thanks for joining us today. I appreciate it. I'm so excited to see how this comes to fruition. I did see the construction site and that was a nice appetizer. Anything else to share with our audience of meeting and event planners that's interesting or unique about this district?

Scott Frick   
We are booking, we are open for business, and we'd love to explore all of our different venues and spaces and experiences with you. OCVIBE is coming, and we are opening next year, and we can't wait to welcome everybody.

Tyler Davidson   
Awesome. Well, thank you, Scott, for joining us.

Scott Frick   
Thanks, Tyler. Good to be with you.

Tyler Davidson   

And that was Scott Frick, Senior Vice President of Real Estate and District Operations for OCVIBE. Thank you, Scott, for joining us for this Meetings Today podcast, and earlier, Mike Waterman with Visit Anaheim. 

Thank you all out there listening. We appreciate you joining us today. And if you're interested in other Meetings Today podcasts, head on over to MeetingsToday.com and check out our podcast section for lots of interviews with industry thought leaders.

Thanks again for joining us and no matter what you're up to with the rest of the day, go out and make it great.