In 2001, the City of Garden Grove, California established this 520-acre master plan area one-half mile from the Disney Anaheim Resort and the Anaheim Convention Center. It extends two miles along both sides of Harbor Boulevard, from Chapman Avenue south, past the Garden Grove (22) Freeway to 17th Street/Westminster Avenue.
To date, nine hotels, a total of 2,780 rooms, and five restaurants have been developed and opened at the north end (Chapman Avenue and Harbor Boulevard) of InternationalWEST.
Land-use Plan
The City engaged a team of outside professionals to evaluate the market potential of the entire area for hotel, dining, entertainment and retail developments and to develop a branding and marketing strategy. The results were very positive and encouraged the City to create a Master Land Plan based on the market potential.
The branding and marketing strategy has established a vision for development that has become a reflection of the uniqueness of the city as a whole and its widely diverse and eclectic nature where "One Town Fits All.” To capture the essence of the brand, InternationalWEST, under the umbrella theme of “The World Comes to Garden Grove,” was selected as the name of this new, leisure and entertainment destination.
Tourist Market
The tourist market continues to drive revenues in Orange County. The strength of the market in this area of California is based on a combination of overnight guests and day trips. The close proximity of InternationalWEST to the Disneyland Resort will enhance its performance.
Currently:
- About 43 million tourists visit Orange County and spend $8 billion annually.
- 22.7 million tourists take day trips to visit Orange County destinations.
- 18.3 million visitors stay overnight.
- Disneyland attendance in 2008 was 14.7 million.
- Disney's California Adventure 2008 attendance was 5.5 million.
Primary Assets
Following are the primary assets of InternationalWEST and Garden Grove that enable this project to realize its development potential:
- Ideal geographic location (central Orange County)
- Optimum, integrated planning to insure the best land use long term
- Proactive City leadership
- Multiple options for timing and phasing of new developments
- Strong City infrastructure to handle growth
- Experience in dealing with developers and users
- Skilled and diversified local workforce
- Freeway namesake: Garden Grove Freeway
- Strong heritage and brand character; willingness as a city to do what it takes to create a progressive, attractive destination.
