3400 Avenue of the Arts Floor Plans: Which One to Pick

3400 Avenue of the Arts in Costa Mesa lists five named floor plans as of 5 October 2026: a studio, two finish tiers of the same one-bedroom, a one-bedroom with a loft, and a two-bedroom. They run from 530 to 1,220 square feet. The useful thing to know before you tour is that the list is not ordered the way you would expect — the loft plan is the most expensive home in the building despite being smaller than the two-bedroom and having one fewer bedroom and one fewer bathroom.

This article compares all five and says which to take. The short version: the two-bedroom is the best value in the building by a long way, and the studio is the worst.

The five floor plans at 3400 Avenue of the Arts

The plan set currently listed is Design EA, Design 1A, Design 1A Premier 4, Design 1A with Loft, and Design 2C. All five appear in the live listing feed, checked 5 October 2026, along with twelve homes spread across them.

Design EA is the studio — 530 square feet, no separate bedroom, one bathroom. Three homes listed.

Design 1A is the one-bedroom — 750 square feet, one bedroom, one bathroom. It appears twice, under two finish tiers, Premier 3 and Premier 4 — the part that confuses people, covered below. Four homes listed across the two.

Design 1A with Loft is the one-bedroom plus an upper level — 875 square feet, still one bedroom and one bathroom. Two homes listed.

Design 2C is the two-bedroom — 1,220 square feet, two bedrooms, two bathrooms. Three homes listed.

The codes decode once you see them side by side: the letter-plus-number pattern tracks bedroom count, while the "Premier" suffix is a separate axis entirely and has nothing to do with layout. You can see the current plan list and which homes are open on the 3400 Avenue of the Arts community page.

Design EA: the 530-square-foot studio

At 530 square feet, Design EA is the smallest plan here and the most expensive square footage in the building. Listed rents sat in the low $2,500s as of 5 October 2026.

That is a real studio, not a micro-unit — 530 square feet gives you a genuine kitchen and room for a proper bed. Against the rest of the building it is the cheapest way in by several hundred dollars a month.

The problem is what you pay per square foot. The studio works out to roughly $4.75 a square foot on 5 October 2026, against about $3.95 for the one-bedroom. You pay a premium per foot for the privilege of needing fewer of them.

Take the studio if the monthly number is the binding constraint, which in South Coast Metro it often is. Do not take it because it looks efficient. It is the least efficient plan here on every measure except the total at the bottom of the lease.

Design 1A: the 750-square-foot one-bedroom

Design 1A is 750 square feet, one bedroom, one bathroom, and it is the plan the building is built around — four of the twelve listed homes are this plan. Rents in the lower finish tier sat in the high $2,900s as of 5 October 2026.

The step up from the studio is the best-value move in the lower half of the list. You gain 220 square feet and a walled, doored bedroom for roughly $470 a month, and your cost per square foot drops rather than rises — unusual, since more space normally costs more per foot.

Against the wider market, this is the plan that prices like a premium product. Apartment List's October 2026 Costa Mesa rent report puts the citywide one-bedroom average at $2,817, with prices trending down across all sizes (accessed 5 October 2026). The lower tier here sits above that average and the upper tier well above it. What you buy for the difference is the location and the amenity block — two saltwater pools and spas, a 15,000-square-foot fitness center with a rock-climbing wall, and a two-minute walk to the Orange County Museum of Art.

Premier 3 and Premier 4: the same plan at two prices

Premier is a finish level, not a layout. This is the single most misread thing about AIR's plan naming, and the live feed makes it unarguable.

Design 1A Premier 3 and Design 1A Premier 4 are both 750 square feet, both one bedroom, both one bathroom. Identical on every dimension the listing feed records. The only thing that differs is the Premier number and the price — Premier 3 sat in the high $2,900s on 5 October 2026 and Premier 4 in the low $3,200s. That is roughly $275 a month for zero additional square feet.

What the number buys is interior specification, not space: finish package, fixtures, appliance tier, and in practice floor position. The feed does not itemise what sits in each tier, so the only way to know what you are buying is to tour both and look.

Do that before you sign. Over a twelve-month lease the gap is substantial, and unlike square footage a finish tier is a judgement call you can only make with your own eyes. If the difference turns out to be a countertop material you do not care about, take Premier 3 and keep the money.

Design 1A with Loft: the most expensive plan in the building

Every listed loft home at 3400 priced above every listed two-bedroom home on 5 October 2026. The loft band sat in the mid $3,600s to low $3,700s, the two-bedroom band in the high $3,500s to low $3,600s. Where the two ranges nearly meet the cheapest loft was under ten dollars above the dearest two-bedroom, so the margin there is thin — but the ordering held.

You pay that premium for 345 fewer square feet, one fewer bedroom and one fewer bathroom. The loft is 875 square feet against the two-bedroom's 1,220, and runs about $4.20 a square foot against roughly $2.95 — close to forty percent more for every foot you occupy.

The reason is that a loft prices as a volume product rather than a space product. Ceiling height, light and top-of-building position are scarce; square footage is not. Both listed loft homes carry fourth-floor unit numbers, consistent with how the plan has to be built.

Whether the trade is worth making depends on what the upper level will hold. If you will work up there daily, you are buying a room. If it will hold luggage, you are paying a top-floor premium for storage. We covered what the loft plan is, how the upper level is laid out and how it compares to loft stock elsewhere in the city in our guide to loft apartments in Costa Mesa.

Design 2C: the 1,220-square-foot two-bedroom

Design 2C is 1,220 square feet, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and it is the plan to take if you can reach it. Listed rents sat in the high $3,500s to low $3,600s as of 5 October 2026 across three available homes.

The step from the top one-bedroom tier to the two-bedroom costs roughly $330 a month and buys 470 square feet, a second bedroom and a second bathroom. That is the best marginal purchase on this list, and it is not close — the roughly $275 that moves you from Premier 3 to Premier 4 buys nothing but finish.

It is also the only plan here that prices in line with the open market. Apartment List's October 2026 figure for a Costa Mesa two-bedroom is $3,542, and the entry two-bedroom at 3400 sits a little above that while delivering 1,220 square feet and the full amenity block. Every other plan in this building carries a visible premium to its market comparable. This one does not. It is the right answer for more people than take it — anyone sharing, anyone who needs a room that closes for work, and anyone weighing the loft against a second bedroom.

Cost per square foot across all five plans

Ranked cheapest to dearest per square foot on 5 October 2026, the order is: two-bedroom, one-bedroom Premier 3, loft, one-bedroom Premier 4, studio.

The two-bedroom comes in around $2.95 a square foot, the lower one-bedroom tier about $3.95, the loft about $4.20, the upper one-bedroom tier about $4.35 and the studio about $4.75. These are rounded, because they derive from rents that move daily — the ranking is the durable part, not the decimals.

Two things fall out of that ordering. Space gets cheaper as you buy more of it, right up until the loft breaks the pattern. And Design 1A Premier 4 — a standard one-bedroom — costs more per square foot than the loft does, which makes it the hardest plan in the building to justify on numbers alone.

Which floor plan to pick

If you are optimising the monthly payment, take Design EA. It is the cheapest way in and nothing else is close. Accept that you pay the worst rate per square foot to get there.

If you want the best balance of cost and space, take Design 1A Premier 3. A real bedroom, 750 square feet, and the second-cheapest rate per square foot on the list.

If two of you are moving in, or one of you works from home, take Design 2C. The 470 square feet, second bedroom and second bathroom you get for roughly $330 over the top one-bedroom tier is the best-value step on the entire plan list.

Take Design 1A with Loft only if the upper level is the point. It is the most expensive home in the building and gives you less floor, one bedroom and one bathroom. That can still be right if volume and a top-floor outlook are what you are buying — but it should be deliberate, not the result of assuming the biggest price means the biggest apartment.

Think hard before taking Design 1A Premier 4. Tour it next to Premier 3 and decide whether the finish difference is worth roughly $275 a month to you. For many renters it will not be, and the honest advice is to take the cheaper tier.

What the plan list does not tell you

The list shows what is available, not everything that exists. The five plans above are the five with listed homes on 5 October 2026. A plan with nothing open does not appear at all, so the absence of a three-bedroom from today's list is not proof the building has none. Ask the leasing office what else sits in the plan book.

Pricing moves daily. Listed figures at this community were observed shifting overnight between 30 September and 1 October 2026. Every band above carries a check date for that reason. Square footage, bed and bath counts and plan names do not move, which is why those are stated exactly here and the rents are not.

There is one recurring fee to budget for. The community's published fee schedule lists a package locker charge of $75 per year, checked 10 September 2026. Deposits and one-time charges are not covered by that schedule, so ask for a full quote rather than assuming the base rent is the whole number.

Availability is thinner than the plan count suggests. Twelve homes across five plans means some plans have a single opening — the upper one-bedroom tier had exactly one on 5 October 2026. If a specific plan is the point of the move, timing matters more than it looks. For the wider picture on the building, see our guide to what renters should know about 3400 Avenue of the Arts.

Plan names, square footages and bed and bath counts come from the 3400 Avenue of the Arts listing feed, checked 5 October 2026. Rents are given as bands because pricing here changes daily; confirm current pricing and availability with the leasing office. Market averages are from Apartment List's October 2026 Costa Mesa rent report, accessed 5 October 2026.

Frequently asked questions

How many floor plans does 3400 Avenue of the Arts have?

Five named plans were listed on 5 October 2026: Design EA (studio, 530 sq ft), Design 1A and Design 1A Premier 4 (one-bedroom, 750 sq ft each), Design 1A with Loft (875 sq ft) and Design 2C (two-bedroom, 1,220 sq ft). Twelve homes were listed across them. A plan with nothing currently available does not appear in the feed, so ask the leasing office what else is in the plan book.

What does Premier mean at 3400 Avenue of the Arts?

Premier is a finish level, not a layout. Design 1A Premier 3 and Design 1A Premier 4 are both 750 square feet, one bedroom and one bathroom — identical on every dimension the feed records. The difference is interior specification and roughly $275 a month, so tour both before deciding the upgrade is worth it.

Why does the loft cost more than the two-bedroom?

Because a loft prices as a volume product rather than a space product. Ceiling height, light and top-of-building position are scarce in a building; square footage is not. Both listed loft homes carry fourth-floor unit numbers. As of 5 October 2026 every listed loft priced above every listed two-bedroom despite being 345 square feet smaller with one fewer bedroom and bathroom.

Which floor plan is the best value at 3400 Avenue of the Arts?

Design 2C, the 1,220 square foot two-bedroom. It is the cheapest plan per square foot at roughly $2.95 on 5 October 2026, and the step up from the top one-bedroom tier costs about $330 a month for 470 more square feet plus a second bedroom and bathroom. It is also the only plan that prices in line with the open market.

How big is the studio at 3400 Avenue of the Arts?

Design EA is 530 square feet with one bathroom and no separate bedroom. That is a genuine studio rather than a micro-unit, with room for a proper kitchen and bed. It is the cheapest way into the building and the most expensive square footage in it, at roughly $4.75 per square foot on 5 October 2026.

What is the cost per square foot of each plan?

Rounded, on 5 October 2026: the two-bedroom about $2.95, the lower one-bedroom tier about $3.95, the loft about $4.20, the upper one-bedroom tier about $4.35 and the studio about $4.75. The ranking is the durable part, not the decimals, because the underlying rents move daily.

Does 3400 Avenue of the Arts have three-bedroom apartments?

No three-bedroom plan appeared in the listing feed on 5 October 2026. That is a statement about what was available on that date rather than a claim that the building has none, because plans with no open homes do not appear in the feed at all. Ask the leasing office directly.

Are all five floor plans available at the same time?

Not evenly. Twelve homes were listed across the five plans on 5 October 2026, but they were not spread equally — the upper one-bedroom tier had a single home open, and the loft had two. Availability also carries different move-in dates, with some homes not opening until December 2026.

Do the apartments at 3400 Avenue of the Arts have in-home laundry?

Yes. In-home laundry is listed among the community's amenities in its published feature list, checked 5 October 2026, alongside two saltwater pools and spas, a 15,000-square-foot fitness center, a rock-climbing wall, outdoor lounges and water features, and loft layouts.

How often does pricing change at 3400 Avenue of the Arts?

Daily, in practice. Listed rents at this community were observed moving overnight between 30 September and 1 October 2026 on every plan. This is why rent is given here as bands with a check date rather than as exact figures, and why you should treat any published number, including these, as indicative until the leasing office confirms it.