For the past five years, the City Council of San Clemente has been developing plans for the usage of 53 acres of land in Rancho San Clemente/Forster Ranch at the cross streets of Avenida Vista Hermosa and Avenida La Pata.  The plans included building a new 42-acre sports and swimming complex, which now, according to this article in the OC Register, is closer to becoming a reality.  The Council has decided to go ahead with plans for the La Pata/Vista Hermosa Sports Park and Aquatics Center, with a projected construction start date of January 2009 and opening of the park in June 2010.  Features of the new park will include:

1. Baseball, football and soccer complexes, complete with restrooms, spectator seating and mixed-use fields.
2. Aquatics center with 50-meter competition pool, 25-meter activity pool and a large bath house with restrooms and changing areas.

To help fund the construction of the new park, the Council has agreed to sell the remaining 9 acres to Target for the building of a new shopping center; this plan is still in the works as this area will need to be rezoned for commercial use.  Future plans include building a gymnasium, basketball courts, a community center and a group picnic area; these developments would cost an extra $25 million and have been tabled for now.

As this blog frequently states, infrastructure is a critical part to a community's value with regards to real estate and overall appeal, and San Clemente is a city that continues to excel in adding areas for community use.  San Clemente is already well-known for its beautiful parks, and the addition of this large sports complex creates more activities for families and residents.  The location is centralized between three large residential areas in San Clemente: Forster Ranch, Talega and Rancho San Clemente; with freeway access off Avenida Vista Hermosa, the park will be easily accessible not only for San Clemente residents but visitors as well.  The Target shopping center is another bonus, not only because its development will make the park's funding easier to obtain, but also because, let's face it, everyone loves Target (I pity you if you have not visited one before - it is sometimes hard to get my wife to leave a Target once she gets going).  To donate funds to the new park and sports complex, please visit http://www.sanclementeparksfoundation.org. 

For more information on the San Clemente real estate market and future infrastructure plans in the area, please visit San Clemente Coastal Living or contact us.