Countdown to a New Downtown
Setting the Stage
Inside the Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center (ARTIC), thousands move through an 82,000-square-foot transportation hub every day. For the September launch of OCVIBE, FGPG transformed this bustling station into a preview of its $4 billion development, set to become Orange County’s most highly anticipated future downtown.
“One of FGPG’s superpowers is their calmness and attention to detail,” says Tracy Larocca, CMO of OC Sports & Entertainment. “They turned ARTIC from a beautiful building into a magical, immersive experience.”
Showcasing SoCal’s Future Downtown
After six years of development, OCVIBE needed to bring a vast vision of its cultural, culinary, artistic, and residential epicenter to life. The challenge went beyond traditional event production. FGPG was tasked with transforming a working transit hub—without disrupting operations—into immersive experiential zones for a dynamic audience of attendees ranging from city dignitaries and planners to future concert-goers and residents.
The ARTIC’s massive infrastructure called for truly creative solutions for everything from daily commuter flow to the architectural constraints of soaring ceilings. For the preview event, FGPG had to demonstrate how 28 restaurants, six bars, two hotels, and 2,000 apartment homes would reshape Anaheim’s new downtown–all while working within a fraction of the actual development’s footprint.
Merging Technology, Arts, Culture
Where commuters usually hurry past food stands, a two-story Market Hall materialized, previewing chef-driven concepts that demonstrated OCVIBE’s commitment to nurturing new businesses. The announcement of Newport Beach’s A Restaurant as one of the first five dining venues added immediate credibility to the culinary ambitions. A high-energy nightclub zone, inspired by Gallagher’s, pulsed with DJ sets that may have rivaled Disneyland’s fireworks.
Native plants decorated the welcome concourse, creating a living preview of OCVIBE’s planned 20-acre green space. ARTIC’s sweeping glass walls became dynamic portals through FGPG’s architectural sleight-of-hand, wrapping the space in activation technology that turned structural glass into massive LED screens projecting renderings of plazas and venues.
The evening’s showstopper bridged decades of Orange County culture. The Golden Bear, the legendary nightclub that once hosted Janis Joplin and Steve Martin, announced its reinvention as a 350-seat theater within OCVIBE. Former owner Carole Babiracki-Kirby passed the original keys to Susan Samueli, connecting the county’s musical past to its future.
Previewing a New Center of Gravity
The evening brought together some of Orange County’s most influential voices in sports, entertainment, and civic leadership. Anaheim Ducks owners Henry and Susan Samueli, OCSE CEO Bill Foltz, and Chairman Michael Schulman joined Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken and entertainment industry leaders from AEG and Live Nation.
Major media also took notice, covering the preview event in the Orange County Register, Los Angeles Times, Sports Business Journal, FOX 11 Los Angeles, and many others–amplifying the project’s momentum underscored by the partnership behind this milestone preview event.
Building the Future Today
As OCVIBE races toward its 2026 Phase One opening, FGPG’s preview event stands as a blueprint for launching ambitious developments. The team transformed architectural renderings into tangible experiences, giving Orange County its first taste of the new downtown.
In Henry Samueli’s words, OCVIBE is building Orange County’s “center of gravity.”
In one evening, FGPG’s partnership made that future a reality.