Posted October 22, 2026 | By Eric Engelbert | Updated as the project progresses.
The roughly nine-acre Cabrillo Park shopping center site at 1901 East Fourth Street has had one of the most unusual paths of any project in Santa Ana. In 2023, the Planning Commission unanimously approved Fairfield's Cabrillo Town Center: 449 apartments, 58 townhomes, and a parking garage with nearly 900 spaces. Then the City Council reversed course and denied it, and the state housing department told the city the denial broke state law.
Fairfield walked away. Now KB Home has filed a smaller, different plan for the same land: 188 for-sale townhomes, including 10 for very low-income households. This post covers what happened, what KB Home is proposing, how it fits with Central Pointe next door and the rest of Metro East, and what it could mean for buyers.
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October 2026 Update: Where 1901 E. Fourth Street Stands
| Topic | Latest |
|---|---|
| Current plan | KB Home: 188 for-sale townhomes with about 407 parking spaces and a small flex space facing Cabrillo Park and Fourth Street |
| Application | Development Project DP-2025-32, filed in late 2025; in Development Project Review |
| Hearings | None scheduled yet |
| Affordable homes | 10 homes (5%) for very low-income households |
| Sales | Not open; no pricing, floor plans, or interest list released |
| Earlier plan | Fairfield's 507-home Cabrillo Town Center, denied by City Council on November 7, 2023 |
What KB Home Is Proposing
households
under construction
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Address | 1901 E. Fourth Street, Santa Ana, CA 92705 (the former plan also included 1971 E. Fourth St and 515 and 525 N. Cabrillo Park Drive) |
| Builder | KB Home (Coastal division) |
| Homes | 188 for-sale townhomes |
| Affordable homes | 10 homes (5%) for very low-income households, meeting Santa Ana's affordable housing ordinance |
| Parking | About 407 spaces |
| Other features | Common open space and about 404 sq ft of flex space facing Cabrillo Park and Fourth Street, for uses such as a small office or art studio |
| General Plan | District Center Medium (DC-3) |
| Zoning | Professional (P) today; proposed Village Center District of the Metro East Mixed-Use Overlay |
| Application | DP-2025-32 |
| Status | Development Project Review; no hearing dates set |
KB Home is no stranger to downtown Santa Ana. It built the townhomes at Lacy Crossing on East Fourth Street, where 2022-built homes resold in the past year at list prices of about $860,000 to $1,050,000.
The Plan That Was Denied: Cabrillo Town Center
Fairfield Residential, a San Diego-based apartment developer, proposed a much denser project for the site in 2022.
| Item | Cabrillo Town Center (Fairfield, 2023) | KB Home (2025 filing) |
|---|---|---|
| Total homes | 507 | 188 |
| Apartments | 449 rentals in a five-story building wrapped around a 6.5-level garage | None |
| Townhomes | 58 for-sale, in eight three-story buildings | 188 for-sale |
| Other space | 19 live/work units, about 5,800 sq ft commercial, about 6,100 sq ft office | About 404 sq ft flex space |
| Parking | About 1,025 spaces (898 in the garage plus 127 for townhomes) | About 407 spaces |
| Affordable homes | None on site; about $8 million in-lieu fee | 10 very low-income homes on site |
| Public open space | About 47,810 sq ft | Common open space; amount not yet published |
| Date | What Happened |
|---|---|
| April 24, 2023 | Planning Commission approves the site plan 6-0 (Resolution 2023-08) and the tract map |
| 2023 | Appeals filed by the Supporters Alliance for Environmental Responsibility and the Southwest Mountain States Carpenters, citing environmental (CEQA) concerns |
| October 3, 2023 | City staff recommend that the Council deny the appeals and uphold the approval |
| November 7, 2023 | City Council denies the project without adopting written findings |
| February 9, 2024 | State HCD sends the city a letter finding the denial violated the Housing Accountability Act and warning it can refer future violations to the Attorney General |
| 2024 | Fairfield no longer pursues the project |
| Late 2025 | KB Home files a 188-townhome plan (DP-2025-32) |
Under California's Housing Accountability Act, a city can deny a housing project that meets its rules only with specific written findings, such as a specific, unavoidable health or safety impact. HCD found Santa Ana made no such findings, and noted that city staff had worked with the applicant to meet the city's requirements. HCD also stressed that those findings are separate from the environmental review, which was covered by the 2007 Metro East EIR and its 2018 update.
How It Fits Santa Ana's Housing Element
Santa Ana's state-certified 2021-2029 Housing Element requires the city to plan for 3,137 new homes. When it was adopted, the Housing Element listed Cabrillo Town Center's 507 homes in its pipeline of projects counted toward that goal. The denial took those homes off the table, and KB Home's plan would bring back 188, now with 10 very low-income homes that the earlier plan did not include on site.
The site is inside the Metro East Mixed-Use Overlay, the district along Fourth and First Streets near the 5 and 55 that the city created to turn older offices and shopping centers into an urban neighborhood with up to 5,500 homes. It is now one of the busiest areas in the city for new housing:
| Nearby Project | Homes | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Central Pointe, 1801 E. Fourth St (next door) | 644 apartments and retail | Under construction since December 2025 |
| 1901 E. Fourth St (KB Home) | 188 for-sale townhomes | In city review |
| The Madison, 200 N. Cabrillo Park Dr | 260 apartments with retail | Entitled; not built |
| Innovative Housing Opportunities, 2021 E. Fourth St and Golden Circle Dr | 160 affordable apartments | In city review |
| 2020 E. First St (Meritage) | 86 for-sale townhomes | Approved; sales not yet open |
| Cabrillo Crossing (Brandywine), E. First St | 35 for-sale townhomes | Built 2025 |
| First Street Townhomes, 2001 E. First St | 36 for-sale townhomes | In city review |
Sources: City of Santa Ana project pages and the 2021-2029 Housing Element.
What It Could Mean for Buyers
KB Home has not released pricing. Newer townhomes nearby give a sense of the market:
| Comparison | Size | Recent List Prices |
|---|---|---|
| Townhomes and condos built 2010 or later in 92701 and 92705, sold past 12 months (17 sales) | About 1,980 sq ft average | About $700,000 to $1,050,000; average about $884,000 |
| Lacy Crossing (KB Home), downtown | About 1,980 to 2,295 sq ft | About $860,000 to $1,050,000 |
| Cabrillo Crossing (Brandywine), E. First St | About 1,840 to 2,480 sq ft | About $800,000 to $975,000 |
| Harbor Pointe (Century), N. Harbor Blvd | About 1,478 to 1,964 sq ft | From the mid $800Ks (new) |
MLS list prices, rounded, as of October 22, 2026. Final sale prices can differ. These are a guide, not KB Home pricing.
With 188 homes, this would be one of the largest for-sale townhome communities in central Santa Ana in years. It still needs Planning Commission review, and possibly City Council review, so sales are likely at least a year or two away.
Interested in New Townhomes on Fourth Street?
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