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Renderings by MVE Institutional, Inc., courtesy of City of El Monte.

The City of El Monte broke ground today on the Gateway Project, which promises to bring affordable housing, retail and restaurant space next to Metro’s El Monte Bus Station. It’s great to see more transit oriented development happening in San Gabriel Valley! The above renderings show what the area will look like once the project is completed.

Here’s the press release from the City of El Monte:

In a move that aims to position El Monte as a model for smart development in the San Gabriel Valley, City officials and its development partners, Grapevine Advisors, LLC and Jamboree Housing Corporation, hosted a groundbreaking ceremony on Feb. 27 to celebrate the commencement of construction on the much anticipated Gateway Project.

The planned 14-acre development, which is connected to the El Monte Bus Station and the historic Downtown El Monte area, will deliver housing, retail and restaurant space, as well as improvements to the surrounding area. A $15 million grant from the California Department of Housing and Community Development is also helping to fund significant infrastructure upgrades to surrounding streets.

“This project boasts so many tremendous benefits for our entire community and we are thrilled to be able to celebrate this important milestone with such a special ceremony,” said El Monte Mayor Andre Quintero. “This development will translate into the creation of hundreds of jobs, while revitalizing our City and stimulating our local economy. I believe the Gateway Project will be a model of smart planning and development in the San Gabriel Valley.”

El Monte Gateway is adjacent to Metro’s new El Monte Bus Station, a $64 million station, which opened in 2012 and features such amenities as clean energy buses. The El Monte Metro Bus Station currently serves more than 20,000 riders per day.

“We are proud to partner with the City of El Monte on this much-anticipated and vital economic development project,” said James Acevedo, president of Grapevine Advisors LLC. “We believe this is a model project for Public-Private Partnerships moving forward, creating jobs and tax revenues, and providing quality housing at a time when our region as a whole is facing a serious  housing shortage. The El Monte Gateway project is also a great example of how transit-oriented developments can encourage use of mass transportation, which reduces congestion and has a positive impact on air quality.”

The groundbreaking ceremony, held at the project site at 3535 Santa Anita Ave., featured speeches from City Councilmembers and representatives from the development partners. The event’s celebratory lunch highlighted various local restaurants unique to El Monte.

Upon completion, the project will feature 485 one-, two, and three-bedroom apartments ranging in size from 550 to 1,050 square feet, including 132 affordable housing units developed by Jamboree.

“The apartment homes community at El Monte Gateway is Jamboree’s first workforce housing development in partnership with the City of El Monte, and is the first step in what we see as a long and productive relationship with the city,” said Laura Archuleta, president of Jamboree.  “In addition to working with the City of El Monte, this is an especially important development for our company in that it is part of the larger El Monte Gateway master-planned urban community and it is a transit-oriented development.  This will be the third transit-oriented development that Jamboree has built in Los Angeles County, which is a significant milestone for our company.”

In addition, the development will include 25,000 square feet of retail shops and restaurants, creating new opportunities for businesses in El Monte. This first phase will be a catalyst to the future developments within the 60-acre Gateway Specific Plan, further creating new housing and business opportunities, and place making for dining and social gatherings.