Downtown Laguna Beach has doubled up its base of luxury electric vehicle showrooms.
Swedish carmaker Polestar, an EV offshoot of Volvo, earlier this month took the wraps off a new retail spot at 305 N. Coast Highway, near the Laguna Art Museum, Heisler Park and the Las Brisas restaurant.
The company is describing the location, its second in Southern California, as a “pop-up.”
While the location “is not Polestar South Coast’s final home, it will be [its] new location for a number of months to come,” officials told the Business Journal.
Other regional Polestar locations are along Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. It now has about a dozen retail stores open in the U.S. and plans 35 to be open by the end of next year.
The Laguna Beach spot is the company’s fourth in the state.
The EV firm is prepping to launch its first SUV, dubbed Polestar 3. A release is expected next year with a price tag around $80,000. It’s being built in South Carolina.
Its first vehicle was a limited-run plug-in hybrid coupe with a gas engine that had nearly 600 horsepower and a price tag around $150,000.
The second car it released, the Polestar 2, is around $40,000 after tax credits and is the company’s first high-volume offering. The sedan, which was on display at the Laguna Beach site earlier this month, “is the brand’s answer to the Tesla Model 3,” according to the Car & Driver magazine.
The company, which expects some 29,000 sales globally this year, is aiming to go public in the first half of next year, via a reverse merger with a Special Purpose Acquisition Company. A $20 billion valuation for the company has been cited as a possibility in national news reports.
Along with the SUV release, the company’s been teasing the Polestar Precept, its self-described “manifesto concept car that previews the future of its design, technology and sustainability.”
That vehicle has “embarked on a national tour, visiting Polestar retail locations throughout the U.S. into the New Year,” the company said.
The retail spots “are places to learn and interact with the brand and our products,” company representatives told the Business Journal. “Think modern art gallery meets next-generation vehicle showroom.”
Honarkar Portfolio
The N. Coast Highway location, part of a roughly 10,000-square-foot space that once held the well-known Indian Territory artifacts store, falls under the umbrella of the city’s main commercial real estate owner, Mo Honarkar and his 4G Ventures.
A few years ago, a mixed-use development featuring a hotel was proposed for the site, but that ambitious project never moved ahead. Earlier this year, a residential development, including an affordable housing element, was instead considered there as a new option, according to city planning records.
Other buildings under Honarkar’s ownership include the iconic Hotel Laguna, which has seen a heavy amount of upgrades that were unveiled a few months ago. The hotel recently reopened its meeting areas and restaurants to the public.
Rivian Theater
The Polestar site runs a few blocks from Rivian’s forthcoming “experience center” at the former Laguna Beach South Coast Cinemas site.
The Irvine-based company (Nasdaq: RIVN) bought the 15,890-square-foot property on Coast Highway in 2020 for a reported $10.7 million.
Upon the completion of renovations, it’ll include an event center and other amenities not typical for a typical car showroom.
The first experience center for the $100 billion-valued firm opened a few months ago in Venice, near the L.A. neighborhood’s famed retail district on Abbot Kinney Boulevard.
Coast Highway is a popular spot for luxe cars. The Crystal Cove shopping center in Newport Coast has a showroom for Aston Martin, which is also planning its own all-electric vehicles in a few years. Several high-end dealerships run along the Mariner’s Mile area of Newport Beach.Â
