By Eric Engelbert
A Long-Vacant Lot Gets a Second Chance
A 0.67-acre lot on West Lincoln Avenue in Anaheim has been sitting empty since 2002. A motel that once stood there was demolished that year, and for more than two decades the site has been vacant. That is about to change.
On April 6, 2026, the Anaheim Planning Commission approved Tentative Tract Map No. 19393, clearing the way for a new 50-unit for-sale condominium development at 3036 West Lincoln Avenue. The project includes five affordable units reserved for low-income buyers and uses California’s density bonus law to maximize the number of homes on the small site.
For-sale condos are relatively rare among new Orange County housing approvals, most of which are rentals. This project is worth watching for buyers looking for new construction in Anaheim at an accessible price point.
The Site: 24 Years of Waiting
The property at 3036 West Lincoln Avenue is one of many former motel sites along this part of Anaheim. The motel was torn down in 2002 and the parcel has been unused since. It sits in what the city designates as Mixed-Use High land, meaning it is zoned for dense residential development alongside ground-floor commercial uses.
The site is flat, cleared, and has no known environmental constraints. Existing public utilities already serve the surrounding area, so the infrastructure needed to support a new residential building is already in place. From a planning standpoint this is a clean infill project on a lot that has produced nothing for over two decades.
The city's approval was also straightforward from an environmental review perspective. Because the project implements the Beach Boulevard Specific Plan on a previously disturbed urban site, it qualified for a categorical exemption under CEQA, meaning no full environmental impact report was required for this specific project.
The Building: Four Stories, 50 Condos
The approved project is a four-story building with three residential floors above a ground-level parking garage. The building reaches approximately 51 feet 6 inches to the top of the parapet. Parking is tucked underneath the residential floors, which is a common approach for urban infill sites where lot coverage needs to be maximized.
The design was prepared by Michael Sun Architect. The building is configured as a one-lot condominium map, meaning all 50 units will be individually owned and sold rather than rented. Each unit will have its own recorded title.
Specific unit sizes and bedroom counts were not detailed in the publicly available planning documents, but the project narrative references three-bedroom units as part of the mix. The developer has not been publicly identified in the planning record.
Five Affordable Units and How They Work
Five of the 50 units (10%) will be set aside as affordable for-sale condos reserved for low-income households. This is not a rental program. These are ownership units that will be deed-restricted for a minimum of 55 years under a recorded Housing Incentives Agreement and CC&Rs that run with the property and bind all future owners.
In exchange for providing those five affordable units at 12% of the base unit count, the developer qualified for a density bonus under California state law. This allowed the project to go from the base zoning density of 60 dwelling units per acre up to 74.6 units per acre, a 23% increase. On a lot this small, that density bonus is what makes the project financially viable.
The density bonus also came with approved waivers of certain development standards, including reduced setbacks. The city found that applying standard setbacks would physically prevent the approved density from fitting on the 0.67-acre site.
The five affordable units are a real opportunity for income-qualified buyers who want to own rather than rent in Anaheim. Affordability levels and income limits will be confirmed when the Housing Incentives Agreement is recorded, which must happen before any building permits are issued.
Part of a Larger Plan for West Anaheim
This project is not happening in isolation. The 3036 West Lincoln site sits within the Beach Boulevard Specific Plan (SP 2017-1), a planning framework the City of Anaheim adopted in 2018 to guide the redevelopment of this corridor. The plan was designed to transform West Anaheim’s aging commercial strip into a more walkable, mixed-use neighborhood with new housing and updated retail.
The Beach Boulevard corridor has a history of older motels, auto-oriented commercial strips, and underused parcels. The specific plan created a framework to replace those uses with denser residential and mixed-use development. The 3036 West Lincoln project is a direct example of that plan working as intended, taking a long-vacant former motel lot and turning it into 50 ownership homes.
As more parcels along this corridor redevelop, the neighborhood character will gradually shift. Buyers who get in early on projects like this are buying into an area that is actively being reimagined by the city.
Location: West Anaheim near Beach Boulevard
West Lincoln Avenue is a major east-west street running through the 92801 zip code in West Anaheim. The 3036 address puts it in the area between Beach Boulevard and Magnolia Avenue, just north of the Anaheim/Stanton/Cypress boundary.
This part of Anaheim is distinct from the tourist corridor near Disneyland. It is a working-class neighborhood with a mix of older single-family homes, apartment complexes, and commercial uses along the main streets. Freeway access is convenient, with the 5 and 22 both reachable within a few minutes.
For buyers priced out of more expensive Anaheim zip codes or looking for new construction under a certain price point, West Anaheim offers a realistic path to ownership. The addition of new for-sale product like this project can help anchor values in the surrounding area as the corridor continues to improve.
You can search current Anaheim condos for sale on our site to see what is available in the area today.
Project Status: Approved, Not Yet on Market
The Planning Commission approval in April 2026 is a significant milestone, but it is not the finish line. Before construction can begin, the developer still needs to satisfy several conditions including recording the final tract map, executing a Subdivision Agreement with the City of Anaheim, recording the Housing Incentives Agreement for the affordable units, and paying applicable development impact fees.
The developer has not been publicly named in the planning documents, and the project has not yet been brought to market. No pricing, timeline, or sales information is publicly available at this time.
That said, the approval is recent and the entitlement work is done. If the developer moves forward on a normal construction timeline, this project could realistically open for sales within the next one to two years. Given that the affordable units will be for-sale at restricted prices with a 55-year covenant, qualified buyers should pay attention to when this project is announced.
If you want to be notified when this or similar new-construction projects come to market in Anaheim, reach out and we can put you on a watch list.
Looking for New Construction in Orange County?
New for-sale projects like this one move fast once they open. Whether you are looking for a market-rate unit or want to find out if you qualify for an affordable ownership opportunity, our team tracks new development across all of Orange County and can help you get positioned before units go on sale.
