CITIES REPORT
January 2022
BALDWIN PARK
The city of Baldwin Park has received two grantstotaling nearly $6.4 million from the California Department of Parks andRecreation that will be used to expand Barnes Park and create parks and openspaces along the Big Dalton Wash Trail.
The money is part of the $548.3 million in grantfunding being provided to more than 100 communities that was awarded throughthe Statewide Park Development and Community Revitalization Program.
The program was instituted to create parks andrecreation opportunities to underserved communities in the state.
“These grants provide an exciting opportunity tocreate new green spaces for the hard-working families of Baldwin Park, which isone of my top priorities as mayor,” said Emmanuel J. Estrada, Mayor of BaldwinPark. “Adding new parks and trails makes nature readily accessible for allresidents of Baldwin Park.”
The city will use about $3.1 million of its fundingto develop the recently acquired 0.16-acre lot next to Barnes Park and anexisting 0.18-acre area of the park. Upon completion, the park will have auniversal-access playground featuring shade structures, two basketball courts,a futsal court/mini-pitch soccer field, a picnic area and public art as well asan expanded parking lot, ornamental safety fencing and lighting andlandscaping.
The new park land represents the first addition ofpark space in the city in decades. As of 2019, Baldwin Park had 0.35 park acresper 1,000 residents, well below the 3.3 average in Los Angeles County.
Also, $3.3 million will be used to green the pavedroad along the Big Dalton Wash with a bike trail, lighting and four pocketparks on Garvey Avenue, Dalewood Street and Francisquito Avenue
CHINO:
A redesigned street namesign with the City of Chino logo of a sunrise over rolling fields will replacecurrent signage throughout the city on a gradual basis.
The Chino City Councilselected a design with white text on a blue background on Dec. 21 as part of acitywide project which will install new 1,206 street name signs and replaceoutdated traffic signs. The vote was 4-0, with Mayor Eunice Ulloa absent.
The council was presentedwith three street name sign designs based on input received during a meeting inOctober. All but Councilman Chris Floresfavored the selected design. Mr. Flores preferred an option with all capitalletters but voted in favor of the project.
The city awarded a contractto Myers and Sons Hi-way Safety, a Chino company, in the amount of $543,346.
The company will remove,relocate, or replace traffic and street name signs to provide consistency andimprove aesthetics, visibility, and safety for motorists, bicyclists, andpedestrians.
CHINO HILLS
Two Chino Hills retail centers where the 71 freewaymeets Grand Avenue have changed hands for a combined $19 million.
Chino Hills Grand Plaza, a 12,948-square-foot retailbuilding at 3410 Grand Ave., sold for $11.42 million to an unidentified Burbankinvestor. The center’s tenants include First Citizens Bank, Pacific DentalServices, It’s Boba Time and Pick Up Stix. Both the retail centers are across Grand Avenue from The Shoppes atChino Hills, one of the busiest shopping hubs in the city.
CLAREMONT
During January andApril of 2022, residents will notice more trees around the city thanks to theefforts of the Community Services Department’s urban forest division.
Throughout the firstquarter of the year, the urban forest division’s 2022 reforestation programwill be in full swing and volunteers will be utilizing the cooler weather andwinter precipitation to their advantage to plant saplings.
Residents interestedin a new city tree should contact the Community Services Department at (909)399-5431. Variables such as growing space, possible interference with utilitylines, sufficient site distance and traffic clearance from proposed tree, ontop of maintenance resources such as adequate water supply and a consistentsource, are taken into consideration prior to planting a new city tree. Allsites must be evaluated and approved by an arborist prior to planting accordingto the city.
According to theCity, newly planted trees will be watered by the city for 90 days followingplanting. After the 90-day period, a water bag will be installed on the tree.From that point on property owners are responsible for watering. Additionally newlyplanted trees will also receive a young tree checkup approximately one yearafter planting. This checkup includes light structural pruning, re-staking andtying, if necessary, and an overall health check.
Grant funds arebeing used to plant city trees according to the city’s website. “Per grantrequirements trees can be no larger than 15 gallons in size. Property ownersmay choose to have a larger tree planted at their cost. A larger tree costs$237.”
For more informationon the city’s urban forest, contact the Community Services Department by emailat trees@ci.claremont.ca.us.
El Monte:
A multifamily portfolio with 274 units in the San GabrielValley has sold for $68 million.
Positive Investments Inc. purchased the portfolio from theHunsaker family. The buildings in the portfolio, which are located at 4405Rosemead Blvd., 5123-5205 Rosemead Blvd., 4436-4438 Ivar St. and 3815 BaldwinAve. in El Monte, are known as the Fashion Park Apartments, Glen HavenApartments and Fashion Lane Apartments.
The properties have a combined size of 215,691 square feetand amenities such as swimming pools, clubhouses, secure entry and coveredparking.
GLENDORA
With classes back insession after the Christmas/Winter Holiday and amid a surge in COVID-19 cases across LosAngeles County, the Glendora Unified School District distributed free test kitsto students.
The test kits werelimited to one per student, the district said. Kits were available for pick-upat a drive-through event held at the GUSD office.
The test kits werenot mandatory but are strongly encouraged by the district as, according toofficials, it's one way we can all helpensure our schools stay open and safe during the winter surge.
When Glendoraschools reopened it was amid a coronavirus surge fueled by the omicron variant.
COVID-19 cases shotup in California after the holidays, with the average daily case count reaching39,450, according to The New York Times. The count signifies a 408 percentincrease from the previous 14 days.
In Los AngelesCounty, the area saw a 607 percent increase with a 19,154 daily average casecount, the Times reported.
To protect studentsreturning to the classrooms this week, Glendora Unified will implement severalsafety measures issued by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Healthwithin the next few weeks.
Schools will testfor asymptomatic close contacts of infected students, regardless of vaccinationstatus, the district said. Face coverings will also be necessary for outdoorcrowded areas where physical distancing is not possible.
Faculty and staffmembers at Glendora schools will also be required to wear upgraded facecoverings, either surgical masks are respirators, the district said.
The district is alsorecommending all students wear non-cloth face coverings that are well-fitted totheir faces and that all eligible staff members and students receive a boostershot of the COVID-19 vaccine.
LA VERNE
La Verne started thenew year with a new police chief as the city's top cop announced his retirementat the end of December.
Chief Nick Pazannounced in December that his last day would be December 31st. Paz has been in law enforcement for 38 yearsand first joined the department as a 19-year-old police cadet, according to hisretirement announcement. He has been chief since 2016.
Paz said being thechief of police has been a pleasure, and he wouldn't trade anything for thecareer he's had in La Verne.
La Verne policeCapt. Colleen Flores took over thedepartment starting Jan. 1. Flores was initially named as Paz's successor lastyear.
At the time, Paz didnot announce when he would retire from the department but approved of Flores asthe next chief.
Flores is La Verne's first woman chief of police in the city's history.
ONTARIO
A national developer recently purchased one of the largestempty lots in Ontario, Calif., with plans to build a 1 million-square-footlogistics center that would be among the largest warehouses in the city.
Dermody Properties announced last month it bought 54.4 acresof land in the Ontario Ranch area of the city, abutting the Southern CaliforniaEdison Mira Loma Substation, said Scott Murphy, executive director of communitydevelopment for the city of Ontario.
The real estate/development company said it will develop a1,033,348-square-foot industrial warehouse on the site starting in late spring2022 with completion expected sometime in 2023. It will be called the LogistiCenterat Ontario Ranch, according to a Dec. 14 announcement.
Dermody said that the site is one of the last remaining parcels of land in the Inland EmpireWest that is capable of supporting a building over one million squarefeet.
The Ontario Ranch project will feature 196 dock-high doors,433 car parking stalls, 183 tractor-trailer parking stalls and 185-foot truckcourts, the company said. It will be similar to the Eastvale site and has beengiven a similar name. The Ontario Ranch warehouse is valuable for goodsmovement because it is within a half-mile of the 15 Freeway and 1.8 miles fromthe 60 Freeway and only 4.4 miles from Ontario International Airport, a growingair cargo hub.
The site was originally dairy farm land and now sits mostlyvacant. It was previously zoned as residential with mixed office/commercial buta few months ago, the City Council rezoned the area as light industrial, whichaccommodates a logistical warehouse use.
Dermody could develop up to a 1.2 million-square-footwarehouse project, the maximum size under the new zone. No plans or permitapplications have yet been submitted to the City of Ontario.
Dermody’s proposed LogistiCenter at Ontario Ranch would be oneof several new warehouses that may be built this year or next in the InlandEmpire, a sought-after region for new logistics warehouses because of itslocation to freeways and availability of open land.
The rush to build more warehouses to serve Amazon, Walmartand other online shopping companies has picked up during the coronaviruspandemic, as more people shopped online and air cargo volumes greatly increasedat Ontario International Airport.
POMONA
A new redevelopmentslated for downtown Pomona, California, Prisma Artist’s Lofts, is one of thefirst developments taking shape as part of an urban renewal plan for the city.
Adopted in March2014, the Pomona Corridors Specific Plan aims to enhance the vitality of theregion, particularly along Mission Blvd., Garey Ave., Holt Ave., and FoothillBlvd. SVA’s schematic design for Prisma Artist’s Lofts reflects the values ofthe City and stakeholders as a key element in Pomona’s renewal.
Prisma Artist’sLofts consists of 75 units, including 14 live/work units with ground levelstorefronts. Located on 1.45 acres, the four-story community will offersubsidized, affordable apartment homes in one, two, and three-bedroom designs.The community will also include a lobby, leasing office, community room, andamenity courtyard with an outdoor BBQ counter, dining tables, landscaping, andchildren’s play equipment. The contemporary, urban design features accentcolors and geometrical shapes, providing a canvas to the community rich withartistic heritage. Exterior mural boards will serve as a blank palette forartists in live/work units to personalize.
UPLAND:
A 49-year-oldapartment complex with 236 units in Upland has sold for $80.8 million, or$342,161 per unit, according to Institutional Property Advisors.
IPA represented TheBenson’s seller, an affiliate of Abacus Capital Group, and found the buyer, NewStandard Equities.
Joseph Grabiec, IPAexecutive director, said the complex has seen “significant capital expenditures,most of which were spent on systems and common area improvements.”
He expects the newowners will update the interior in order to raise rents to meet the area’saverage asking rate.
The property wasbuilt in 1973 and is near Claremont Colleges, the Montclair TransCenter, andmyriad retail centers. It has 32 residential buildings, two pools, a spa,fitness center, dog park, playground, and 350 onsite parking spots. The unitmix is composed of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. Each unit has a privatebalcony or patio.
WEST COVINA:
Benedict Canyon Equities sold the Twelve31 Apartments inWest Covina for $80.4 million to private L.A.-based apartment investor RonNasch in a 1031-exchange. Property records show the firm paid $43 million toacquire the complex in September 2016.
CBRE announced the sale, and said the seller recentlycompleted a $4.9 million renovation on the complex at 1231 West FrancisquitoAvenue.
Twelve31 Apartments includes one-, two- and three-bedroomunits averaging 873 square feet. The property also features a swimming pool andspa, as well as a fitness center. Online listings for the site show asking rentat $2,295 to $2,925 per month.
The most recent USC Casden Economics Forecast projectstriple-digit dollar rent increases over the next two years for multifamilyproperties throughout Southern California, with the highest jumps hittingsuburban markets outside of urban centers.