Laguna Beach / Coastal Orange County
Laguna Beach has little chain medical retail. The medical anchors we could confirm are Mission Hospital Laguna Beach on Coast Highway and the not-for-profit Laguna Beach Community Clinic on 3rd Street, plus small optical and wellness storefronts such as European Optical in the HIP District. Because the C-1 zone pushes clinics above the ground floor, the more practical ground-floor targets are LBP and C-N parcels, where medical and dental offices are permitted outright, and South Laguna Village sites that are not being converted from ground-floor retail. The city's age profile (30.1 percent of residents are 65 or older) supports appointment-based practices that can live with small suites and limited parking.
Population
22,710
Median HHI
$143,843
Median age
53.9
Homeownership
66.1%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.
Primary retail corridors
Pacific Coast Highway · Forest Avenue · Broadway Street · Laguna Canyon Road · Glenneyre Street
Specific shopping centers in Laguna Beach that already carry credible co-tenancy for this use. Listed in approximate order of fit.
South Coast Highway between Thalia Street and Diamond Street
Anchors / key tenants: art galleries, independent dining, coffee, boutiques
Just-under-one-mile strip with 26 art galleries, 17 restaurants, and several independent coffee shops with outdoor seating. The artisan-and-gallery node of Laguna retail. Tenants include Stephanos jewelry.
Existing operators are the most honest comp for whether a use can support Laguna Beach rents. These are publicly visible medical retail space businesses currently trading in the market.
Mission Hospital Laguna Beach (Providence)
31872 Coast Hwy, Laguna Beach, CA 92651
Hospital on Coast Highway. Providence's location page lists urgent care, emergency care, orthopedic services and radiology and imaging among its services. Not a retail tenant, but the main medical anchor in the city.
Laguna Beach Community Clinic
362 3rd Street, Laguna Beach, CA 92651
Not-for-profit clinic offering primary care, women's health and OB-GYN, pediatrics, teen health and mental health. Its site says it has served the community for over 50 years and cares for over 3,000 patients.
European Optical
1294 South Coast Highway, Suite C, Laguna Beach, CA 92651
Eyewear shop in the HIP District, listed on the district's merchant page and on its own site. We did not confirm whether exams are offered.
01
C-1 Local Business District: medical and dental clinics and treatment rooms need a Conditional Use Permit, must be located above the ground floor, and cannot exceed 50 percent of the building's gross floor area (Section 25.20.006(S)(4)). Hospitals also need a CUP in C-1 (25.20.006(I)). A ground-floor clinic in a C-1 storefront is not an option under the current text.
02
Where medical is allowed outright: medical or dental offices and clinics are permitted in the LBP zone (Section 25.18.002(B)) and C-N zone (25.19.002(Q)). In South Laguna Village, medical and dental offices are permitted except when converting ground-floor retail space (25.25.002(N)); that conversion needs a CUP (25.25.006(D)), and the City weighs the existing balance of resident-serving uses when it reviews it.
03
Parking is the main cost. Section 25.52.012(G) requires 1 space per 150 sq ft for clinics with more than one professional, emergency service providers and dentists, and 1 per 250 sq ft for a single doctor, chiropractor or optometrist, compared with 1 per 250 for general retail. A 2,000 sq ft dental office needs 14 spaces where a retail user needs 8, and under 25.52.004(E) the six-space gap must be provided or covered with in-lieu parking certificates.
04
In-lieu certificates are limited: Section 25.52.006(E) allows up to three per site, requires a parking demand study for four or more, and caps certificates at 50 percent of the required spaces for any one use. For buildings built before 1958, the City also credits the parking the 1958 rules would have required for the existing use (25.52.004(E)(1)(d)), so ask the landlord for the building's age and parking history.
05
Accessible parking and on-site rules: accessible stalls must meet the state building code and count toward the required total (Section 25.52.004(D)), and required nonresidential parking must be on site unless off-site parking is approved (25.52.004(B)). Confirm where the accessible stall is and the route from it to the suite before you sign.
06
Downtown and design review: for sites in the downtown basin, Section 25.40.030 puts the use rules in the separate Downtown Specific Plan, so check Exhibit A and the plan's use table rather than the C-1 list. Exterior changes in C-1, C-N, LBP and South Laguna Village go through design review under Section 25.05.040.
Zoning, licensing, and demographic figures on this page come from the public records below. Codes and licenses change, so confirm with the city and the licensing agency before you sign.