LAGUNA HILLS, CA—Nadel has completed the $17-million expansion of the Village at Nellie Gail Ranch, a shopping center located at the intersection of Moulton Pkwy. and La Paz Rd. here. The center is now open to shoppers after the extensive remodel and expansion project, which incorporated 28,000 additional square feet of retail space.
Owned by Vintage Real Estate LLC, the Village was originally built in the 1980s and now includes approximately 88,000 square feet of retail. Its new 21,000-square-foot anchor tenant is Southern California's first location of the Fresh Market, a high-end European grocery store. Additional tenants include Pharmaca, Rita's Italian Ice, Burger Lounge, Mod Pizza, Edible Arrangements and Chuck E. Cheese.
According to Greg Lyon, principal and design director with Nadel, “Repositioning projects plays a large role in the current market. Expansions like this allow communities to utilize outdated spaces in underserved areas and create an anchor amenity that meets the needs of area demographics.”
In addition to Lyon, the Nadel design team for the project included studio director David Anderson, project manager Keith Martinez and senior designer Fernando Trinidad. The team's goal was to create a “California coastal” village environment that took advantage of the existing building massing while adding new towers, canopies and other architectural features. The scope of work for the architecture and design firm included renovations to the parking area and landscaping to better accommodate the additional retail space of the Village.
The integration of an existing equestrian park was a key element of the area development. Horse riding trails exist side by side with pedestrian walkways and landscape areas. “This reimagined design changes the center from one that is purely functional in nature to one that provides sophisticated reinforcement of the coastal lifestyle this community embodies,” says Lyon.
Stay tuned for an in-depth interview with Greg Lyon about shopping-center repositioning from the design firm's perspective.
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Carrie Rossenfeld
Carrie Rossenfeld is a reporter for the San Diego and Orange County markets on GlobeSt.com and a contributor to Real Estate Forum. She was a trade-magazine and newsletter editor in New York City before moving to Southern California to become a freelance writer and editor for magazines, books and websites. Rossenfeld has written extensively on topics including commercial real estate, running a medical practice, intellectual-property licensing and giftware. She has edited books about profiting from real estate and has ghostwritten a book about starting a home-based business.
