In HFH, Ltd. v. Superior Court (1975) 15 Cal.3d 508, the property owner acquired land zoned for commercial use at a purchase price in excess of $ 500,000. The intent was to construct a shopping center. Before construction commenced the City "down-zoned" the property to residential, single family dwellings, thereby reducing the value of the property to about one-tenth of what the property owner had paid to purchase it. The California Supreme Court held that " 'A purchaser of land merely acquires a right to continue a use instituted before the enactment of a more restrictive zoning.'" The court further stated that "a zoning action which merely decreases the market value of property does not violate the constitutional provisions forbidding uncompensated taking or damaging, . . ." (P. 518.)