Urban Housing Breaks Ground on $53M Mixed-Use Community

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorMonrovia, Calif.—Urban Housing Group, a subsidiary of the Marcus & Millichap Company, has broken ground on The Courtyards at Old Town, a mixed-use community that will include 163 luxury apartments and 6,000 sq. ft. of commercial space.The city of Monrovia features many examples of turn-of-the-century architecture, says Jirair Garabedian, AIA, LEED…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorMonrovia, Calif.—Urban Housing Group, a subsidiary of the Marcus & Millichap Company, has broken ground on The Courtyards at Old Town, a mixed-use community that will include 163 luxury apartments and 6,000 sq. ft. of commercial space.The city of Monrovia features many examples of turn-of-the-century architecture, says Jirair Garabedian, AIA, LEED AP, studio director at KTGY Group, the architecture firm that worked on the project. “We approached the design of the project to be sensitive to that, to compliment Old Town, whether with the massing or the choice of materials.”Monrovia, a town of approximately 50,000 people, is expanding its downtown area with new restaurants and bistros, as well as a new movie theater. Plans are in the works to expand the city’s public transportation with new buses running up and down Myrtle Avenue and through the extension of the Metro Gold Line, explains Garabedian. The Courtyards at Old Town will be part of the downtown Monrovia boundary and a Gold Line station is expected to built in close proximity to the property. The $53 million project is “a great example of what the city wants to do with Myrtle Corridor,” Garabedian tells MHN, which, he says, includes high-density, mixed-use projects to encourage the revitalization of the city and bring more residents to downtown through different housing options—the typical residence in the area being either single-family or a two- or three-story apartment building further from the downtown vicinity.The four-story Courtyards at Old Town, which is scheduled to be complete in April 2010, will offer one- and two-bedroom residences, ranging from 750 to 1,250 sq. ft. Monthly rents will range from $1,750 to $2,650, and residences will feature nine-ft. ceilings, granite countertops, maple cabinets and in-unit laundry.The community will include amenities such as a pool and spa, fitness center, clubhouse and seven landscaped gardens. The commercial space is expected to be occupied by service-oriented retail, in addition to some “flex space” that will be available for small businesses.HSBC Realty Credit Corporation is providing a construction loan for the project.