Toll Brothers Plans High-End Community in Lake Forest

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

As luxury locations go, you can’t go much higher than Orange County, Calif., an area whose wealth has been represented in countless movies and TV shows. The high-end lifestyle here has apparently stimulated the imagination of luxury home builder Toll Brothers, Inc., which has just snapped up the rights to develop Baker Ranch, a master-planned community in Lake Forest that has approvals in place for as many as 2,000 homes.

Divided into three villages, Baker Ranch would be comprised of about 1,780 single-family homes and 414 apartments.  The master-planned community will be located on a sprawling 40-acre chunk of land in one of the state’s most sought-after residential markets. An 8.4-acre parcel will be dedicated to a central park, while an additional seven neighborhood parks, three of which will include private recreation clubs, will complete Baker Ranch’s open and spacious feel.

 Toll Bros. has associated itself with Shea Baker Ranch LLC, part of the Shea family of companies, for the development process. The homes will cater to a variety of buyer profiles with single-family attached, detached and multi-family homes available in the three planned villages. Groundbreaking is set to take place this year on the first village and the first batch of homes will be marketed starting in spring 2014.

The Saddleback Valley Unified School District will offer some of the county’s highest-rated school, and the Foothill Transportation Center will provide easy access to transit. Additionally, the City of Lake Forest is developing a nearby community park that will include sports facilities such as six baseball and softball fields, five soccer fields, six courts for basketball or tennis, two large playgrounds and a 30,000-square-foot recreation center featuring an attached amphitheater.

Image courtesy of provincewest.com