In Santa Ana, construction is complete for a mixed-use development featuring affordable housing for artists. 

The project, called the Sana Ana Arts Collective, was developed by Los Angeles-based Meta Housing Corp.  The developer has converted a 1965 office building at 1666 N. Main Street into 48 studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom live/work lofts, while also adding 10 two- and three-bedroom townhomes on an adjacent property.

The housing units, which range from 512 to 1,300 square feet in size, are deed-restricted to households earning between 30 and 60 percent of the area median income.  Rents for the apartments tart at $448 per month for extremely low-income households and range as high as $1,998 per month for larger units.

The project, in addition to catering to artists, is located on a stretch of Main Street dotted with cultural institutions, including the Bowers Museum and the Orange County School of the Arts.

“Santa Ana Arts Collective brings exceptionally high-quality affordable homes to a community that will benefit from an infusion of artists and other creatives,” said Michael Bohn, a principal at architecture firm Studio One Eleven. “This much-needed housing joins arts programming and transportation improvements, all integrated to further uplift the Main Street Cultural Corridor.”

Studio One Eleven's design for the Arts Collective includes a ground-floor gallery, as well as studios, music rooms, and other amenities.  A courtyard divides the newly-built townhomes from the restored office building.

The Santa Ana project is the fifth projects in which Meta Housing and Studio One Eleven have worked together, following a similar arts colony in Long Beach and a $32-million apartment complex in Glendale.