Ocean Ranch Village Is Rebuilding Around Its Two Longest Vacancies

Where did you park the last time you stopped at Trader Joe's on Golden Lantern? Until a few weeks ago, the answer was 32351 Golden Lantern. That was the address of Store 103 at Ocean Ranch Village. On Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026, the store opened its doors at 32391 Golden Lantern instead, according to the Orange County Register.

Ocean Ranch Village is filling the two spaces that sat dark the longest, and both are on the same stretch of Golden Lantern addresses. One will bring daytime errands and the other evening hours.

Store 103 Moved Down the Row

The new Trader Joe's is a much larger room. The City of Laguna Niguel's October 2026 Niguel Now business newsletter lists the new store at 14,220 square feet, compared with 8,550 square feet at the location it replaced. That works out to roughly two-thirds more floor space.

The store's regular hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., according to the newsletter and the chain's Laguna Niguel Ocean Ranch location page. A company representative told the Register that the new store has "the same amazing Crew Members and products with a newly designed layout and bigger space."

Laguna Niguel was one of two openings Trader Joe's handled that Thursday. The chain opened its first Anaheim Hills store the same morning, in a former Big Lots. Both openings follow the pattern the Register has tracked across Orange County, with the grocer moving into space other retailers gave up.

The Space It Took Had Been Waiting, Too

Trader Joe's did not move into new construction. It moved into the former Bed Bath & Beyond building on the west side of the center. Shea Properties, the center's owner, has redeveloped that building and split it into two retail spaces. Ulta Beauty took the other half. In February, the Register reported that Ulta had signed a lease for 10,000 square feet at Ocean Ranch Village.

The move also changes where people park. When the plan first became public in April, the Register noted that the new store "will sit a little deeper in the center, where more parking spreads to the west toward Curl Fitness and Bottega Angelina." The grocery stop now sits by the larger lot, near the gym and one of the center's sit-down restaurants.

Here is how the spaces along this part of Golden Lantern have changed:

The Other Dark Storefront Gets an Evening Crowd

The second vacancy was a restaurant. Hendrix ran for more than seven years on the Laguna Niguel and Dana Point border and has been empty since it closed in 2024, the Register reported in July. It was opened by the team behind Driftwood Kitchen and The Deck. Before that, the building was home to Fred's Mexican Cafe and, earlier, Chevy's.

The next tenant is Good Boy, a new concept from Specialty Restaurants Corporation. The Costa Mesa company is best known in Orange County for Orange Hill in Orange. In its July 8 announcement, Shea Properties said Good Boy is slated to debut in early 2027. It described the restaurant as a place for "dinner, an after-work drink, weekend brunch, or a late-night celebration." In Fall 2026, Modern Luxury put Good Boy on its list of upcoming Orange County restaurants, still with an early 2027 opening.

The best sense of the concept so far comes from Specialty Restaurants Chief Operations Officer Ryan Smith, in Shea's release:

"Good Boy will be a playful, steak-forward concept with a 'no veto' menu designed to offer something for everyone. It is a place where guests can settle in, connect, and find themselves lingering well into the evening."

A "no veto" menu is one that no one in a group has to turn down, the kind of place that suits a mixed table on a weeknight.

What Already Fills This End of the Center

Good Boy will join established restaurants. The Register names Bottega Angelina, Seasurf Fish Co. and Yoshiharu Ramen as its neighbors at the Golden Lantern complex. Shea's Ocean Ranch Village property page also lists Curl Fitness and Cinépolis luxury cinemas among the center's draws. It puts the Laguna Niguel side at 145,200 square feet of retail, dining, entertainment and office space.

Fitness businesses are already moving in. Solos Pilates at 32411 Golden Lantern, Suite M, marked its first year in Laguna Niguel in October 2026, and the City's newsletter featured it among local businesses celebrating that milestone.

Taken together, the tenants on this end of the center cover the whole day:

• Morning and midday: Solos Pilates and Curl Fitness for workouts, and Trader Joe's from its 9 a.m. opening
• Afternoon: Trader Joe's, plus Ulta Beauty in the other half of the former Bed Bath & Beyond building
• Evening: Bottega Angelina, Seasurf Fish Co., Yoshiharu Ramen and Cinépolis
• Early 2027 target: Good Boy, with brunch, happy hour and late-night service

Before this year, the two biggest gaps in that lineup were the empty Bed Bath & Beyond building and the dark Hendrix dining room. One is now the center's Trader Joe's. The other is planned as its newest place for dinner and drinks.

Running Errands at Ocean Ranch This Holiday Season

Ocean Ranch Village does not stop at the city line. The Register notes that the center continues south into Dana Point across Camino del Avion. Shea describes the Dana Point side as a separate 102,389-square-foot neighborhood center anchored by Ralphs and CVS. A full holiday shopping run can cover both sides of the intersection. With Trader Joe's in its new spot, the Laguna Niguel side works a little differently:

1. Park on the west side for Trader Joe's. The new store sits deeper in the center, where the lot spreads toward Curl Fitness and Bottega Angelina, so the spaces in front of the old 32351 storefront are no longer the closest.
2. Plan around 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Those are Store 103's regular hours at 32391 Golden Lantern.
3. Cross Camino del Avion for pharmacy errands or a second grocery stop. Ralphs and CVS anchor the Dana Point side of Ocean Ranch Village.
4. Stay for dinner or a movie. Bottega Angelina, Seasurf Fish Co. and Yoshiharu Ramen share the Golden Lantern complex with Cinépolis.
5. Watch 32431 Golden Lantern in the new year. Good Boy is targeted for early 2027 in the former Hendrix space.

At the city level, the October newsletter lists the City's Holiday Parade on December 12, so the holiday season brings activity to Crown Valley Parkway as well as Golden Lantern.

Our team is based in Laguna Niguel, and we track changes like the ones at Ocean Ranch Village because they shape everyday life in the neighborhoods around Golden Lantern and Camino del Avion. If you own nearby and want to talk through how these changes fit your plans, or you simply have a question about this corner of town, Candice Blair Group is happy to help. Contact Us.