MBK Rental Estate Ltd. is planning a five-story project in Duarte near the City of Hope Station on Metro’s Gold Line.
The company closed on a 4.3-acre site where it will develop a 344-unit luxury apartment property in a joint venture with Haseko Corp.
“The Gold Line extension and the accessibility from a transportation standpoint has always been attractive for us,” MBK Rental Living President Craig Jones said.
The addition of the Gold Line has been a big improvement for the San Gabriel Valley, according to Kitty Wallace, an executive vice president with Colliers International Group Inc., but building new product there isn’t always easy because of a lack of available land.
Jones said that the Duarte site was attractive because it “really catered to the types of residents we would target in this area: a demographic that would appreciate the higher density amenities and rooftop amenities that we could put into a product of this type.”
The community will have studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom options. Amenities will include a rooftop fitness center and pool, outdoor cooking spaces, coworking areas, a dog park, a pet washing station and parks.
“Our design and our hope here is to drive our residents into the common areas by creating unique amenities for this particular market that mimic the best amenities that you will find in L.A. and really leverage the beautiful views of the markets that are in that areas,” Jones said.
The project is being designed by Architects Orange. The contractor has not yet been selected.
Construction is expected to start in late 2020, and the property is scheduled to open in mid-2023.
Jones declined to provide the cost of the project.
It does not include any affordable units.
“We’re really focused on creating and addressing affordability through the creation of studio units and perhaps even larger units that would encourage roommates and other means of providing affordability,” Jones said.
MBK is also working on a 300-unit project in Carson, as well as other projects in the Inland Empire and other markets.
Multifamily properties in the San Gabriel Valley are doing well. In the fourth quarter of 2019, the region saw a 2.81% vacancy rate, down 1 basis point over the previous year, according to data from CBRE Group Inc. In the same quarter, rents were $1,1726.61 a unit, up nearly 4 basis points over the previous year.
Office properties in the area are also doing well. The fourth quarter vacancy rate was 10.7%, down from 15.6% the previous year, and asking rents for Class A properties were up 3 cents in a year to $2.55 a square foot, according to data from Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.
The area hasn’t seen as much development as downtown or other red-hot markets, but experts say it’s still an area where people want to be.
“People love the San Gabriel Valley,” said Colliers’ Wallace. “It’s a super-solid pocket.”
She added that nearby jobs, as well as new restaurants and nightlife options, have made it appealing to younger generations.
