La Habra, California

floor, and be able to build residential on the second, third, and fourth floors. So, this is an attractive product type for the development community, because residential is hot, right now.” A continuing focus on downtown development, however, is just one part of La Habra’s General Plan. “The community asked for a number of things,” says Director of Community & Economic Development, Andrew Ho. “One was to reinvest in city infrastructure and facilities. That’s where the Civic Center project came into play. We’re also embarking on a 20-acre park project, and we’re redeveloping an old landfill into a family- oriented park with recreation activities. We’ve accomplished a number of water projects, as well. So, infrastructure was one component, but as part of the General Plan, the community also asked for more economic development. So, our mission here in the Community & Economic Development Department is to build a vibrant community, and bring in new businesses.” And, apparently, it has done just that. Ho mentions the addition of one major newcomer to La Habra: Trader Joe’s, the grocery store giant with over 500 locations in 42 states. “The facility used to be one supermarket and the developer went in and saw it as a value-add opportunity,” he recounts. “It means that they can take one store or one facility and sub-divide it into two, three, or four facilities and capture additional rent. So, this developer bought a 100,000-sq.-ft. Vons Supermarket, sub-divided it into three tenant spaces, and was able to bring to the community Trader Joe’s, Burlington, and CVS. They tripled their profits and the community, in turn, got three new businesses, two of which we did not have in town, one of them being a Trader Joe’s, which the community has been asking for, for the last 12 years. So, I think La Habra has the best land value in Orange County. For the amount of money invested, developers will have larger returns than in other Orange County communities.” Ferrier believes that La Habra’s location makes