Building Starts on $100M Auto Mall
By DANIEL D. WILLIAMS
Construction has started on a sprawling, $100 million auto mall planned for Foothill Ranch.
So far, four parcels at the planned Foothill Ranch Auto Centre have been sold for Chevrolet, Buick/Pontiac, Dodge and Plymouth/Jeep dealerships.
The 38-acre auto mall is being built along the 241 Foothill Transportation Corridor at Portola Parkway and Glenn Ranch Road.
Foothill Ranch Co., a unit of Laguna Hills-based developer Stirling Enterprises, said it is in talks to sell four remaining parcels at the auto center.
“We have two, 3-acre sites for smaller dealerships and two along the corridor at 6 acres each,” said Dougall Agan, a vice president with Foothill Ranch Co.
The Plymouth/Jeep dealership is set to open on 5.5 acres in July. Others expected to open early next year include: Tuttle Dodge, part of Irvine-based Tuttle-Click Automotive Group, on 4.5 acres; Joe MacPherson Chevrolet, part of Tustin-based MacPherson Auto Group, on 6 acres; and an unnamed Buick/Pontiac dealer on 6 acres.
The auto center is projected to sell $192 million in vehicles in its first year, according to Foothill Ranch Co.
“It brings jobs, tax revenues and consumer confidence to South Orange County,” said Lake Forest Mayor Richard T. Dixon.
Neighboring Lake Forest annexed Foothill Ranch a few years back.
The land deals were struck with auto makers General Motors Corp., which owns Chevrolet, Pontiac and Buick, and DaimlerChrysler AG, which makes Dodge, Plymouth and Jeep vehicles.
“The manufacturer determines where a point of distribution will be,” Foothill Ranch Co.’s Agan said. “Local dealers don’t have the authority to approve where a franchise will be.”
Foothill Ranch Auto Centre is planned as an extension of the 243-acre Towne Centre & Marketplace in Foothill Ranch. Agan is betting that the auto center will attract shoppers to the retail center and tenants to available office space in the area.
Foothill Ranch Co.’s 828,315 square feet of office space is 28% vacant, according to an analyst with Irvine-based Lee & Associates Commercial Real Estate Services. A majority of the empty space is in Foothill Plaza, a two-building, 208,620-square-foot, class A campus.
“We’ve been counting the (Foothill Plaza) project as complete since September,” said Jessica Cortez, marketing director with Lee & Associates. “The buildings are beautiful. But it’s kind of out there as far as location. You can go to Lake Forest, which is closer, and it seems everyone is counting their nickels and dimes right now.”
Foothill Ranch Auto Centre will face its own share of competition, including from the more established Irvine Auto Center and dealerships in Laguna Niguel and Rancho Santa Margarita.
