The City of Commerce will be getting a boost to its housing supply in the form of a large mixed-use project dubbed Modelo. The project gets its name from Commerce’s motto of being “the Model City.”
The project, which was approved by the Commerce City Council in February, will have 850 residential units — a mix of for-rent and for-sale residences — recreational and entertainment retail spaces, a public-private park, a community center and a museum.
The project will sit on nearly 18 acres at the intersection of Gage and Slauson Avenues.
Century City-based Comstock Realty Partners is the developer behind the project, and Patrick Tighe, principal of Tighe Architecture, is serving as its lead designer. The architecture firm is based in Mid-City.
“After 25 years of experience in Commerce and eight years working with the city to create this unique development, we are excited to bring much needed housing and amenities to Southeast LA,” Adrian Comstock, principal and founder of Comstock Realty Partners, said in a statement. “The Modelo Project will honor and reflect the Latin American and Indigenous cultures and history of the site and region, creating a welcoming and open urban village that will complement and enhance the City of Commerce and Southeast L.A. communities.”
Modelo is located on the top of a borrow pit that resulted from the construction of the I-5 freeway.
All 477,000 cubic yards of soil and debris are being removed from underneath the site to accommodate the project.
“This will benefit not only our property, but also the community and the region as a whole, which will be more environmentally protected,” Howard Clarke, vice president of development at Comstock, said in a statement.
Commerce is considered a “severely disadvantaged region economically, environmentally and socially,” according to Comstock.
“The goal of the project is to tip the scale in the direction of the community for once,” Comstock said in a statement. “As developers, we are inspired to create a safe, clean community for people to work, play, and sleep in, and create hundreds of jobs along the way. With this project, we have the added goal of endowing a cultural and arts museum.”
Construction on the project is scheduled to begin by the end of the year. It will have 110 townhomes and condominiums for sale and 740 for-rent apartments.
“A clean safe place to live, a fun, relaxing place to visit, and an inspiring cultural destination… These are the mantras that helped us design Modelo,” Comstock said in a statement.
