Anaheim officials are exchanging city owned land near the city’s regional transportation center so the developers of OC Vibe can build a digital art museum – a move that could be another roadblock in the high speed rail project that’s already behind schedule and over budget.

Last week, city council members voted unanimously to move forward with swapping a nearly 100,000 sq ft lot with over 220 parking spaces for a nearly 142,000 sq ft lot where a 1,840 space parking structure is being built, dismissing calls from speed rail officials to hold off on the trade.

Councilwoman Natalie Meeks said Anaheim regional transportation center is big enough to accommodate both and OC’s biggest city lacks museums.

“We have amazing destinations and things to go to in Anaheim: theme parks, conventions, entertainment, sports, all that. We are museum light. We are cultural light and I think this starts to fill a little bit of a void that we have and I’m very excited to see that move forward,” Meeks said. 

Developers with OC Vibe, a mixed-use entertainment district being built around the Honda Center, say they plan to build the immersive museum on the traded land by 2032 or give up both lots to the city – in a swap officials say is exempt from the state’s surplus land act.

Officials with California’s High Speed Rail Authority – responsible for building a bullet train system that’s slated to run from San Francisco to Anaheim – say the swap conflicts with their plans for a future high speed rail station at Anaheim’s Regional Transportation Intermodal Center. 

They say they entered an agreement with city officials at the end of 2020 to work together to accommodate plans for OC Vibe and the rail to integrate the bullet train with the city’s regional transportation center and expected new entertainment district.


High Speed Rail officials also say there were already plans for them to build a passenger terminal and powerstation and OC Vibe to build an office building on the land the city is giving up – dubbed Lot B.

 The trade, they say, negatively impacts those plans. 

“The Authority cannot guarantee that new land use proposals on Parcel 5A/Lot B will allow for the shared use of the ARTIC station platforms for both future (High Speed Rail) and passenger rail services,” reads a Aug. 25 letter from LaDonna DiCamillo, Northern & Southern regional director of the authority, to the city council.

“The Authority encourages the city council to review the commitments the City of Anaheim has agreed to under the current 2020 MOU with the Authority and to consider the long term implications for connection of High-Speed Rail to ARTIC and other transit serving the area.”

Mayor Ashleigh Aitken, who is running for reelection, publicly asked city staff last week if the authority could sue the city over the trade or use eminent domain to take the land the museum is planned on or prevent the swap. 

City Attorney Rob Fabela claimed the agreement with the state’s high speed authority wasn’t binding.

“The MOU that references the track for high-speed rails south of parking lot B – by its very terms, it’s not binding on the parties. It specifically says this is not binding,” he said at the Aug. 25 city council meeting.

“I don’t really think there would be a basis under that MOU to stop it. I think sure in the future there could be discussions about workarounds or the possibility of eminent domain, but we don’t anticipate that to be the solution.”

High speed rail authority officials have yet to respond to questions Wednesday on how they would respond to the decision. 

Councilwoman Natalie Rubalcava, who is running for reelection, called on city staff to tell authority executives that they value the benefits of the high speed rail and they can still use the ARTIC center as a terminal. 

“It would be good for us to just maybe send that olive branch so they know it’s not just in your face. We don’t care what you think, but we do actually value the partnership, and our city wants to continue to work with you, and so do our major investors in our city.”

She also said it was unclear when the rail would be built and the city needs more museums. 

California’s high speed rail has been underway for about 18 years after voters across the state approved a nearly $10 billion bond measure in 2008 to construct a 800-mile high speed rail network across the state.

The rail was initially expected to be finished by 2020 and cost $33 billion.

This year authority officials said the rail connecting San Francisco to Los Angeles and Anaheim will be done by 2040 and cost $126 billion, according to their 2026 draft business plan.

Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org.