Realty Group Plans 2 Projects in Aliso Viejo

And then there’s the sizzling south Orange County office market. Just how hot is it?

Well, it’s been a decade since G&L; Realty Corp., a real estate investment trust focused on health-care properties, has built anything in California. But now it is about to do so in Aliso Viejo.

In a package deal announced Wednesday, G&L; plans a 33,000-square-foot medical office building for Newport Beach-based Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian and a 9,100-square-foot retail outlet for Pier 1 Imports, both on Aliso Creek Road near the San Joaquin Hills toll road. Total investment: $8 million, the Beverly Hills-based real estate investment trust said.

Since 1988, G&L; had found it cheaper to buy and remodel offices for California clients than to build, but the market is too tight in South County, said Daniel M. Gottlieb, G&L; chief executive. “There’s tenants out there who just can’t get high-quality space,” Gottlieb said.

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E. Scott Reckard covers real estate for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-7407 and at scott.reckard@latimes.com