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September 23, 2019 Chairman McLoughlin and Members of the Santa Ana Planning Commission City of Santa Ana 20 Civic Center Plaza P.O. Box 1988, M31 Santa Ana, CA 92701 Sent via email: sbernal@santa-ana.org <br />RE: First American Mixed Use Project <br /> Dear Chairman McLoughlin and Members of the Santa Ana Planning Commission: My name is Jon Gothold. I have been a resident of Santa Ana for over 31 years. In addition, I have owned the Old Santa Ana City Hall building on 3rd and Main Street for nearly 20 years. I am lending my voice of support for the proposed redevelopment of the old First American property on 5th and Main Street. Since late July of this year, I have been in the somewhat unique position of having to reach out to various businesses and commercial real estate brokers inside and outside of Santa Ana as I go thru the process of having to release the Old City Hall. My property has been occupied by a single tenant for nearly 20 years, and this is the first time it has been available to the public for lease. What I have found from talking to people who are familiar with, but not intimate with Downtown Santa Ana is that there is a perception that we have slowed down on our new development projects in the Downtown, and many have asked me why that is, since we had been having quite a lot of favorable momentum. Those of us that are here daily know that this isn’t the case, but what I realized is that in terms of larger, big impact projects such as the 4th Street Marketplace, the artist live-work lofts in the Artists Village and the Train Station district, it has been sometime since there was a new project of any real size in the Downtown. I feel that the First American re-development project is exactly the kind of positive game-changer we need Downtown right now. The positive impact that this will have on our city, especially compared to what is currently on the site is almost immeasurable. We have a real opportunity here to take the Downtown to the next level in terms of making it a highly desirable place to live and work, and I am 100% in favor of it. Sincerely, Jon Gothold Santa Ana 92706