Federal officials have decided that the seven-story Ziggurat building in Laguna Niguel will go up for online auction early next year; the starting bid will be $70 million.

For more than 50 years, the pyramid-esque structure has been a fixture on Alicia Parkway. It was designed by William Pereira who is known for his design of the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco and the Los Angeles International Airport.

While the community knows it as the Ziggurat, its official name is the Chet Holifield Federal Building, named in 1978 after the longtime congressman from California. The property also is referred to as Laguna Ridge.

The property is a sprawling 89 acres and the building for decades housed thousands of federal employees from up to 12 agencies, including about 2,000 from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. For the past several years it has only been about half full.

This week, the U.S. General Services Administration announced the public auction that will be held starting at 9 a.m. on March 7.

Those interested in the property can inspect it after paying a registration deposit of $300,000. After that, tours can be arranged by appointment for February and March.

“The sale of Laguna Ridge is one example of GSA’s commitment to right-sizing the federal real estate portfolio,”  Dan Brown, acting regional administrator for GSA’s Pacific Rim Region, said in statement. “The sale of this large parcel of land in Laguna Niguel creates an economic development opportunity in Orange County while generating proceeds for the U.S. taxpayer.”

The Chet Holifield Federal Building, also known as the Ziggurat building, on Avila Road in Laguna Niguel, CA is seen on Wednesday, August 19, 2020. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The building was among a dozen buildings identified in 2021 by federal officials for sale under the Federal Asset Sale and Transfer Act. Under the FASTA legislation, proceeds from property sales will be used to further consolidate and sell off excess federal properties, officials said.

The Ziggurat is near several strip shopping malls as well as the Aliso & Wood Canyons Wilderness Park. What should happen with the building and its land is a topic candidates for Laguna Niguel City Council discussed in debates leading up to the recent election.

In the past, Laguna Niguel officials have indicated support for redevelopment of the property and a willingness to work with developers to allow mixed-use projects.

The Ziggurat was built in 1970 to house offices and manufacturing for North American Rockwell. The company never moved in, partly due to President Richard Nixon’s paring down of defense spending to its lowest level in 20 years. The federal government bought the property in 1974, left it vacant for a decade and then tried to sell it before finally moving in agencies.

The public can find more information about this auction at gsa.gov/LagunaRidge or by contacting Tom Doszkocs at [email protected].

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