Rancho Mission Viejo unveils new community hub in Esencia

RANCHO MISSION VIEJO For parents, getting in a quick workout or enjoying some time out usually involves finding a babysitter.

At Escencia, Rancho Mission Viejo’s newest neighborhood, developers have constructed a new $11 million community gathering spot, The Hilltop, where families can enjoy time away from home together.

Surrounded by breathtaking scenery, The Hilltop not only rests at the highest point in the Esencia community, it promises recreation for all ages.

The three-building campus spans about 4 and a half acres and includes two pools and a spa. It also has an indoor-outdoor gym, an arcade with an outdoor Ping-Pong table, courtyards, a community bar, bocce ball courts and a lawn with cornhole boards.

“It’s a good gathering place,” said Pete Roldan, who was visiting The Hilltop with his wife Stacy for the second time in a week. “Families too, because it hosts to all ages. The adults can work out while the kids play in the arcade, middle schoolers and high schoolers can swim. I think it’s universal with all the activities they boast.”

The goal, officials said, was to make The Hilltop an inter-generational recreational hub for 3,411 households in both the Esencia and Sendero neighborhoods and, after a soft opening that took place last week, that strategy seems to be working.

On Friday, June 2, residents of all ages could be seen on the campus, some in the arcade and gym but most enjoying the large pool.

The Roldans were doing an early afternoon workout at the gym.

“I like the concept of working out, the shower, the pool, you can incorporate everything,” said Stacy Roldan, 51. “You can spend the whole day here.”

The couple and their 9-year-old daughter moved to Rancho Mission Viejo from nearby Ladera Ranch, where they had lived for 17 years.

“We’re accustomed to the whole concept of community living, staying in the community and having everything here,” said Pete Roldan, 50. “When they opened it up, we were like, ‘Wow.’ It’s over and above what we expected.”

The project, which took approximately one year to complete, adds another gathering place for the community. The Canyon House is more for meetings and business, officials said, while The Hilltop is purely for recreation.

But officials put an emphasis on The Hilltop as an all-inclusive amenity, which will also be accessible to Rancho Mission Viejo’s final three planned communities, which construction has not yet begun.

“These are always thought of as central recreational and social meeting places for the whole community,” said Paul Johnson, senior vice president of community development in Rancho Mission Viejo. “Over time, the more people we get in here, it’s a way in which they’ll meet many more neighbors over time. You hope it never gets to be the same old crowd.”

Rancho Mission Viejo officials also launched their first Hilltop Hangout, June 2. The Hilltop Hangout is a planned social gathering event which will run the first Friday of every month and will also include food trucks just outside the main entrance and courtyard areas.

Additionally, the amenities have been designed to be changed depending on the demand of the community, officials said.

“Interest and ability should be how we let this place find its rhythm,” Johnson said. “We’ve got a couple of months, if not a couple of years to see how that sorts out.”