For years Laguna Niguel officials and residents have wanted a place for the community to gather and now it appears they are getting just that and more.

The City Council has approved a retail village, offices, two apartment buildings, a state-of-art library and a “town green” to replace 25-acres near Crown Valley and Alicia parkways now home to an aging library, the shuttered South County Justice Center, a county maintenance yard and abandoned parking lots.

The county owns the land, which is being leased by the Laguna Niguel Town Center Partners, made up of Burnham Ward Properties and Sares-Regis Group. Bryon Ward is heading up the commercial and retail components of the project – he’s the lead on a similar project in the Dana Point Harbor – and Chris Payne is handling the residential development for the Sares-Regis Group.

“We’ve never had a downtown,” Councilman Fred Minagar, a former two-time mayor, said. “It’s good for the future generation. It’s time to beautify the scar we have there.”

The project could break ground in 2023, with completion planned in two to three years.

The new Laguna Niguel City Center has been a long time coming. After the justice center was closed in 2008, city officials looked for ways to put the property to use, deciding ultimately on a development with a mix of uses. Businesses will generate jobs and revenue for the city, and the apartments, which will be a variety of one- to three-bedrooms and townhouses, will help support the businesses.

In 2019, the county executed an up-to-70-years lease with the Laguna Niguel Town Center Partners after a previous developer pulled out because they could not make a deal with the county.

The project required a general plan amendment, zone changes and zoning code amendments. It also needed a site development permit and an environmental impact report, all completed and approved.

Key to approval for the project was support from the Friends of the Laguna Niguel Library.

Friends president Peggy Schwartz said she favors the development, but was initially concerned about impacts to library services. The branch, which is part of the county library system and built in 1981 and refurbished in 2011, is popular in the community and offers nearly daily programming.

“We had concerns about its size and visibility,” she said. “The original plans looked like we would be stuck away in a corner.”

The group also worried about having nearby parking, especially for mothers with toddlers and seniors. Another concern was the library’s multipurpose room and who would control scheduling if community groups were also using it. And, the Friends wanted a prominent site for their bookstore and storage space.

Schwartz and others met with the developers, who ultimately satisfied the group’s concerns, she said. The library will now be a centerpiece of the project, with big floor-to-ceiling windows, and will have its own two-story building with nearby parking.

The development team has also agreed to provide the library and the Friends a transition space in the community when construction begins and the old library branch is shut down.

“We will not only have one of the finest libraries in Orange County, but one of the finest libraries in the state,” Ward said.

Beyond the library, the project plans high-end restaurants, retail shops and specialty spots such as breweries, coffee houses and boutiques. Outdoor gathering spaces could become the go-to spot for community events such as weekly farmer markets, wine and art festivals and outdoor movies, the developers said.

“If we’re going to do something, let’s do it right and create something that doesn’t exist anywhere in the county,” Ward told the council.

Ward said the project’s design would incorporate Laguna Niguel’s agrarian ranching roots.

The coastal modern ranch style architecture will feature lots of wood, steel and stone. The buildings will appear as though they and the site were developed over time, he said.

“It will be very communal, with an emphasis on coastal wellness and farm-to-table dining,” Ward said.

The 275 apartments will be in two buildings mimicking the topography, the developers said. There will be clubhouses, resort pools, roof-top decks, state of the art fitness centers and pet spas.

“I believe our city is so blessed with this project,” Councilwoman Sandy Rains said. “The benefit we’re getting in our new library is much more of a public benefit than I have ever seen in our surrounding communities.

“Now we’re going to have that central space,” she said, “where we’ll be proud to have our visitors who come from out of town and show them what we have.”

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