Laguna Niguel : Once Empty, Federal ‘Temple’ Is Now Full

Like an ancient temple, the Chet Holifield Federal Building presides over offices, shopping centers and homes in the northwest corner of the city near Aliso Creek and La Paz roads.

Ever since its construction in 1971, it has carried the nickname of the “Ziggurat” because its seven terraced stories bear a resemblance to a Babylonian or Assyrian temple. But the future of the huge, majestic structure--Orange County’s largest federal building--became clear only in recent years.

The Ziggurat was built by Rockwell International with visions of making it the world’s largest manufacturing plant for electronic systems and components, with nearly 1 million square feet of floor space. But a recession hit, and the building was never occupied.

It stood empty until 1974, when the federal General Services Administration traded two manufacturing plants in Canoga Park and El Segundo for it. Still, federal offices could fill only so much of its cavernous walls and, for many years, half the building remained empty.

In 1982, a GSA study urged its disposal, calling the building “the worst example of underutilized federal property.” But after four years of unsuccessfully trying to sell the Ziggurat, federal officials decided it would be more economical to keep it.

Today, the building is completely occupied and is a workday home to 1,600 employees. “A couple of years ago, we completed a good deal of renovation on the building,” GSA spokeswoman Mary Filippini said. “It’s full up.”

Named formally for former Orange County Congressman Chet Holifield, the Ziggurat contains agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Archives and Records Center, the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Social Security Administration.

Still, the building is surrounded by acres of unused parking lot. Filippini said the space may someday be turned into what was considered impossible a decade ago: “It’s a distinct possibility that we would be using that parking lot for future expansion purposes.”