By Eric Engelbert
56 For-Sale Townhomes Coming to a Former Saw Mill Site a Few Blocks From the Packing District
If you drive down East Santa Ana Street in downtown Anaheim today, you will see cleared land between South Claudina Street and South Olive Street, with underground utilities stubbed in but no concrete poured and no framing started yet. That site is The Mill, a 56-unit for-sale townhome community by Meritage Homes. The project is named for what stood on this land before: a dilapidated saw mill on a two-acre infill site in the heart of Anaheim's historic Colony district. The city approved the project in November 2024, and construction is underway in the early phases as of mid-2026. If you have been looking for a for-sale home close to the Anaheim Packing District and downtown's growing restaurant and arts scene without the price tag of a detached single-family home, this project is worth tracking. Browse current homes for sale in Anaheim.
Where The Mill Is and Why the Location Works
The Mill sits on approximately two acres along East Santa Ana Street in the Anaheim Colony neighborhood, the historic core of the city that predates Disneyland by decades. The site spans the 275 and 375 East Santa Ana Street blocks, bound by South Claudina Street on the west, South Olive Street on the east, and an existing alley on the north. The surrounding blocks are a mix of older single-family homes, small apartment buildings, and the small commercial corridors that make up the walkable street grid of downtown Anaheim.
The proximity to the Anaheim Packing District is one of the most compelling parts of the location. The Packing District is centered at the corner of Anaheim Boulevard and Santa Ana Street, about three to four blocks west of The Mill site. That means residents at The Mill are a short walk from more than 30 food and retail vendors inside the Packing House, which opened in 2014 in a restored 1919 citrus-packing warehouse. Directly across Santa Ana Street from the Packing House is the MAKE Building, a former marmalade factory dating to 1917 that now houses additional artisan vendors. The Center Street Promenade, Anaheim's outdoor downtown shopping and dining corridor, is close by as well.
The area has seen significant apartment development in recent years, and there are multiple rental communities within a few blocks of The Mill. What the neighborhood has had very little of is for-sale attached housing. The Mill is filling a gap that the rental market does not.
Why It Is Called The Mill
The name is not marketing. The site on East Santa Ana Street was occupied for years by a saw mill that had fallen into disrepair. According to the project's community outreach materials filed with the City of Anaheim, the development replaces the former dilapidated saw mill with 56 new homes. The existing structures on the site were demolished to clear the way for construction.
Using the site's industrial history as the project name is a nod to the broader character of the Anaheim Colony neighborhood, which grew up as a working-class and agricultural hub in the late 1800s and early 1900s before Disneyland transformed the city's economy and identity. The Packing District's branding around its own industrial past, the citrus-packing warehouse and marmalade factory, reflects the same idea: old industrial buildings and sites in this part of Anaheim are being converted or replaced by something new while keeping a connection to what was there before.
The Homes: What Is Being Built
The Mill includes 56 three-story attached townhomes in two floor plan configurations. The 24 two-bedroom homes run approximately 1,200 square feet. The 32 three-bedroom homes run up to approximately 1,800 square feet. Every home comes with an attached two-car garage, and the HOA will require residents to keep garages available for vehicle parking rather than storage, which is enforced through the community's CC&Rs.
Vehicular access to the community comes through an existing alley that runs behind the property, accessible from South Olive Street, South Philadelphia Street, and Claudina Street. The community is not gated. Pedestrian walkways, common open space, a barbecue area with shade structure and seating, and open lawn areas are part of the shared amenity package. Each home also has a private balcony.
The architectural style is described as traditional, meaning it draws from classic residential design rather than the contemporary glass-and-steel look common in newer urban projects. Given the historic character of the surrounding Colony neighborhood, the traditional styling fits the block better than a more modern form would.
The project is built under Meritage Homes' standard energy package, which includes solar panels on every home, high-performance HVAC systems, and high-efficiency windows. The community is certified Energy Star, Air Quality Plus, and Water Sense, which are EPA-backed standards for energy use, indoor air quality, and water efficiency respectively.
The Affordable Housing Component
Ten percent of the 56 units, approximately five to six homes, are set aside for moderate-income buyers. Moderate-income in Orange County generally means households earning between 80 and 120 percent of the area median income. These units are deed-restricted, meaning the affordability requirement attaches to the unit and stays in place regardless of future resales, and they count toward Anaheim's state-mandated housing production obligations.
For a for-sale community in downtown Anaheim, a 10 percent moderate-income set-aside reflects a balance between the economics of infill development and the city's obligation to produce housing at multiple income levels. The moderate-income units will be priced below the market-rate units but will otherwise be the same product, the same floor plans in the same community.
Who Is Building It: Meritage Homes
Meritage Homes is one of the largest homebuilders in the United States, publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange and active across multiple states. In Southern California, Meritage builds a range of product from large planned communities to smaller infill projects like The Mill. The company's California operations are managed through MLC Holdings LLC, which is the entity on the Anaheim entitlement filings.
The Mill is a relatively compact project for Meritage, which typically builds at larger scale in master-planned communities. That makes it unusual and, for buyers, potentially more interesting. Smaller for-sale communities in walkable urban locations tend to hold value well over time because new supply in those locations is constrained. Building 56 townhomes on a two-acre former industrial site in downtown Anaheim requires the kind of infill expertise and entitlement patience that not every large builder is willing to put in, particularly on a site that had to be cleared of an old mill before construction could begin.
Meritage's energy-efficiency platform is a consistent feature across all its California communities and is one of the more tangible buyer benefits the company offers. Solar included in the purchase price rather than leased or added later is a meaningful feature, particularly for buyers calculating monthly costs in a high-electricity-cost market like Southern California.
Anaheim's Housing Mandate and What The Mill Contributes
California requires the City of Anaheim to plan for 17,453 new homes during the 6th RHNA cycle running from 2021 to 2029. That is the largest allocation of any city in Orange County, driven by Anaheim's size, its major employment base, and its transit infrastructure including ARTIC, Metrolink, and the planned OC Streetcar. The city has been working through its housing element to identify and zone sites capable of absorbing that volume, a mix of large apartment projects, mixed-use redevelopment, and infill projects like The Mill.
At 56 units, The Mill is a small piece of a very large obligation. But infill for-sale projects matter in ways that apartment-only production does not. They add ownership inventory to a city where most new residential construction is rental. They attract a buyer who would otherwise be competing for resale homes in Anaheim's existing single-family market. And they demonstrate that walkable urban infill development in downtown Anaheim can produce a product that sells, which makes future projects on similar sites easier to finance and entitle.
You can see how Anaheim compares to other Orange County cities on the OC New Developments page.
What This Means for Buyers in and Around Downtown Anaheim
For buyers looking at downtown Anaheim: The Mill is one of the very few for-sale new construction options in the Colony neighborhood and downtown Anaheim generally. The combination of two-car garages, solar, two- and three-bedroom floor plans, and walkable access to the Packing District is a package that simply has not been available in this part of Anaheim before. Pricing has not been publicly announced as of mid-2026, and with construction still in early stages the sales office is not yet open. Comparable new Meritage townhomes in other urban infill Southern California locations have priced in the $600,000 to $800,000 range depending on size and market conditions. An interest list is available now through Meritage Homes if you want to be notified when pricing and sales launch. Browse current Anaheim listings.
For buyers who work in the Anaheim resort or employment corridor: The Mill's location puts you within a short commute of the Anaheim Convention Center, the resort district, ARTIC, and Honda Center without needing to live in a rental apartment. The two-car garage matters in an area where street parking and apartment complex parking have historically been limited.
For existing owners and investors watching downtown Anaheim: A completed for-sale community at The Mill's location sends a signal to the market that ownership demand exists in the Colony neighborhood at price points above what the resale condo market has typically offered. If The Mill sells well, it supports the case for similar projects on the other infill sites that the city has been trying to move forward for years. The Packing District drew restaurant and retail investment to this corridor. A successful for-sale residential community two blocks away is the next piece of that puzzle.
The Right Project in the Right Place at the Right Time
The Mill is what downtown Anaheim has needed for a while: a for-sale home product, built by a major builder with a strong energy efficiency package, in walking distance of one of the best food and retail destinations in Orange County. The site has been cleared and utilities are in the ground. Framing is still ahead, and with no concrete poured as of mid-2026, the original Q3 2026 grand opening target has almost certainly slipped. A realistic opening window looks more like 2027. I will update this post as framing progresses, pricing is announced, and the sales office opens. If you want to talk through how The Mill fits into the downtown Anaheim market or what comparable buying options look like right now, reach out anytime.
