Anaheim demolishes another motel to make way for housing along Beach Boulevard
A Silverado excavator clawed into the side of the Rainbow Inn, a former 42-unit motel in Anaheim, leaving it punctured in the name of progress during a much celebrated demolition.
The cascading wreckage brought applause from city officials who gathered on Thursday morning to witness a milestone in Anaheim's decades-long effort to rebuild Beach Boulevard. In toppling the motel, construction crews cleared the way for future townhomes and affordable housing.
The boulevard was once called Orange County's 'road to summer,' as it allowed motorists to travel from Buena Park to the ocean on a single highway. But as the decades went by and freeways were built, a string of motels along Anaheim's 1.5-mile stretch of the highway decayed. The area served as a longtime magnet for a host of criminal activities, from drug dealing to sex trafficking.
Between 2017 and 2021, Anaheim police made 120 arrests at the Rainbow Inn.
Citing such crime statistics, Anaheim authorized the seizure of the Rainbow Inn through eminent domain last May after negotiations with the motel owner broke down. The city ultimately did not have to take such measures when both parties agreed in September to a $6.9-million sales price for the property.
'We want to clean up this area in west Anaheim,' Rep. Lou Correa said at a press conference in front of the motel. 'This is what good government is all about. It's about listening to our locals, to our constituents, responding to their needs and moving forward.'
Correa presented Anaheim with ceremonial check representing $500,000 of federal funds earmarked to cover a portion of the property's purchase price.
Anaheim previously bought two motels on either side of the Rainbow Inn, the Covered Wagon and the Anaheim Lodge, which have already been demolished. After the Rainbow Inn's demolition, the city now has a continuous 2.7-acre property to attract housing as part of its Rebuild Beach Initiative.
'We want new residents invested in Beach Boulevard,' said Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken, who donned a hot pink hardhat for the demolition. 'This is our city's commitment to west Anaheim, and there is no more deserving place for our city's attention. Since 2019, we have proudly spent $35 million buying, closing and clearing four of our most problematic Beach [Boulevard] motels.'
Anaheim isn't actively soliciting proposals from potential developers for the Beach Boulevard property yet, but the city does have a general plan to have 120 apartment units and 15 market-rate townhomes built there.
'We're the seed capital for Beach Boulevard,' Mike Lyster, an Anaheim spokesperson, told TimesOC. 'The private sector would look with some caution at the highway but we're showing them that we're going to lead the way.'
An update given to the Anaheim City Council in April spelled out progress on that front with In-N-Out, Dave's Hot Chicken and Dutch Bros announced as future tenants coming to 39 Commons, a development on the corner of Beach Boulevard and Lincoln Avenue.
Lyster also called the general plan for Beach Boulevard housing at the site of the trio of demolished motels a likely candidate to be an early beneficiary of an initial $15-million contribution from the Walt Disney Co. to the Anaheim Local Housing Trust Find.
Disney agreed to the funding, which includes another $15-million contribution slated in five years, as a community benefit included in its DisneylandForward expansion plan.
According to Lyster, the funds are likely to be used to cover funding gaps for affordable housing projects in the city.
Though Anaheim isn't currently negotiating another motel purchase along Beach Boulevard, the Rainbow Inn represented another step in its future revitalization for elected officials who gathered to see its long-desired downfall.
'We continue to turn the page,' said Anaheim Councilmember Ryan Balius. 'The demolition of the Rainbow Inn is a symbolic and shared commitment to transform this area into a vibrant, safe and thriving part of our city.'
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