Highest and Best Real Estate Use in Laguna Niguel
Life Time Athletic is coming to Laguna Niguel just above the Center at Rancho Niguel, right off Greenfield and the 73. The building is rising out of the ground at a fast rate now. I have been watching the prestressed concrete panels go up and be spot welded together. Now some of the steel roof joists are going up.
The construction is taking place on the ground that used to be occupied by the Design Center which unfortunately closed about the time of the real estate crash of 2007. That company occupied a very large concrete building that could have housed a soccer field. I watched and waited for some new company to move into that building. It never happened. In fact it was torn down to make way for the Life Time building. I was shocked when the wrecking ball appeared. What a waste, I thought.
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Why would it be torn down and another brand new building go up? I don't have the details but we are witnessing the real estate principle of “Highest and Best Use”. THE REASONABLE PROBABLE AND LEGAL USE OF VACANT LAND OR IMPROVED PROPERTY, WHICH IS PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE, APPROPRIATELY SUPPORTED, FINANCIALLY FEASIBLE, AND THAT RESULTS IN THE HIGHEST VALUE.
That is progress as the saying goes. It seems to me like there is some sort of fitness center on every corner but I am sure planners behind the new company have the experience to make good decisions. I have actually had a contact from a buyer who would like to relocate to the Rancho Niguel area just so they have close access to the Life Time Athletic building. This is not a principle that we residential Realtors think about much but falls more to the commercial real estate business.
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Last year we saw a similar situation with Whole Foods coming to town but they were able to retrofit the existing building that housed Tall Mouse. All in all, Laguna Niguel is a great place to live and it keeps getting better.
Ron Buck, Realtor®
Ron Buck has been a real estate broker for 16 years with over 450 successfully completed transactions. He is a 11-year resident of Laguna Niguel and is an expert in south Orange County real estate. You can contact him at Ron@JonRonRealEstate.com or 949.456.0505.
