How to lease your commercial building in Monarch Beach

Which rules govern the building you want to lease?

Start with the document, not the zone name. The Monarch Beach resort area is covered by an adopted specific plan, SP91-01 Monarch Beach Resort, listed in Appendix D of the Dana Point Zoning Code.^[1] The code says that where a specific plan addresses a zoning matter, the specific plan supersedes the base land use regulations for the property.^[1] If your building sits within the resort plan, ask planning staff which provisions of the specific plan apply to the uses you could offer a tenant.

If instead your building is on land zoned Commercial Residential, a 1999 Local Coastal Program amendment addressed uses in that district in the Monarch Beach and Capistrano Beach areas.^[3] Ask planning staff which text applies to your address, and keep their answer in writing.

How will tenants see your building next to the resort, the links and the plaza?

You may want to compare your building with nearby destinations. The resort hotel was approved at 400 keys with 86 residential units around it,^[2] the golf links have a public clubhouse entrance from Niguel Road,^[2] and Monarch Bay Plaza is described as a Spanish-style center above Pacific Coast Highway with boutiques and restaurants.^[4]

The sources behind this site do not give the plaza's size, owner or tenants, so no comparison is made here. Why it matters: write down for your own building what it offers that a tenant could not get from a center above the highway, such as parking, frontage, visibility, suite size or a use the specific plan permits.

What should an owner gather before a leasing conversation?

Consider assembling these items as a preparation checklist:

• A current rent roll with lease dates and options, plus a review of any exclusives or use restrictions in the existing leases.
• A plan of each space with measured square footage and how it was measured.
• Existing certificates, permits and any coastal permit conditions recorded against the property.
• A summary of operating costs and what a tenant would be asked to reimburse.
• Parking counts and any shared parking or access agreements, including public access conditions.
• A list of deferred repairs, plus what the landlord is willing to pay for in a build-out.
• Insurance and utility details, and a note on whether a tenant would need a separate meter.

What do the sourced rent figures cover, and what do they leave out?

Kidder Mathews reports office space for a combined Dana Point, San Juan Capistrano and San Clemente submarket, not for Monarch Beach alone. For 3Q 2026 it shows 2,468,827 square feet of inventory, total vacancy of 6.1 percent, total availability of 7.4 percent and an average asking rent of $2.87 per square foot per month, full service.^[5] Year to date, the same table shows total leasing of 56,511 square feet.^[5]

Retail is only reported for Orange County: vacancy of 3.3 percent and an asking rent of $2.77 per square foot per month in 3Q 2026.^[6]

Why it matters: these are wide averages. They describe the wider market and are not a quote for your suite. Ask your broker for lease comparables from similar, nearby buildings.

What should you ask a California-licensed broker about leasing?

Use the first meeting to test fit and method:

• What uses does the specific plan or district allow in my building, and what has been approved before?
• How would you describe my building to a tenant, and what comparable leases would you use?
• What concessions are typical, and how would they change my net income over the lease term?
• How would you handle a use that needs city or coastal review, and who pays for it?
• What is the fee structure, and what happens if a tenant is found by another broker?

Prepare a note about your building

This form prepares a note on your device and sends nothing to anyone.

What happens after you fill in the form?

You download a text file and nothing else happens. Take it, with the documents listed above, to the California-licensed broker you choose.