The Orange Country Register, Published: Nov. 4, 2011

Out with the old. That's certainly the case with Ashley Furniture, which bought the former Circuit City site in early 2010, said Aaron Hodgdon.

The old Circuit City building just off the I-5 at El Toro Road in Laguna Hills is a shell of its former self after weeks of demolition work. In the coming days, crews will begin to rework what's left into a new, expanded retail commercial building. Across the parking lot, closer to the Civic Center, plans are in the works for a restaurant. And at the corner of El Toro and Avenida de la Carlota, the gas station – shut down earlier this week – will soon be demolished and rebuilt.

All this is happening as bulldozers clear the way to widen Carlota for traffic coming off southbound I-5 .The project, across from the Laguna Hills Mall, is seen by city officials as a bit of a catalyst for other improvements in what is known as the Urban Village plan, an effort centered on the mall and the adjacent Oakbrook Village to transform the area "into a village-like downtown district." Elements of that plan include new retail development tied together by a pedestrian promenade/main street, a 250-room hotel, mixed use development with up to 200 residential units, and new general and medical office development. An area identity will be created using signage, landscaping and entry features. Vern Jones, community development director for the city, said he's optimistic that within the next six months, the city will see applications filed for new projects that could get started over the next couple of years. It is evidence developers like Simon Property Group, which owns the mall, are moving forward.

"We think they see opportunity here," Jones said. "I think they realize there's an opportunity here for greater things, so I think that is helping motivate them to proceed."

OUT WITH THE OLD

That's certainly the case with Ashley Furniture, which bought the former Circuit City site in early 2010, said Aaron Hodgdon, whose company brokered the deal and is handling construction and project management.

Hodgdon hired Greg James of Nadel Architects to design the building, which includes adding about 6,000 square feet to bring the structure to just about 53,000 square feet. Ashley will occupy two-thirds of that space, and Hodgdon said a deal is close on a retailer for the remaining space. Meanwhile, plans for a drive-through Chick-fil-A are being reviewed by the city, he said. Once approved, the restaurant will take about four to five months to build. The old Chevron station is being completely overhauled, said Karl Huy of Travis Cos. Inc., the project architect. The city purchased a 2,500-square-foot strip of land from the station's property owner to complete the Carlota widening, so the station will have fewer pumps as a result. A convenience store also is planned, Huy said. The simultaneous redevelopment and street widening is serendipitous, said Ken Rosenfield, the city's public services director and city engineer. The concurrent work, however, translates to shorter development time, Hodgdon said.