City-owned lot eyed for housing project
A developer plans to buy the land and build townhomes
The city of Ontario is moving forward with the sale of a vacant lot on North Mountain Avenue to a housing developer that plans to build 39 townhomes on the site.
Earlier this week, the City Council gave preliminary approval for a development agreement with Tipping Development Inc., a Monrovia-based developer, and adopted a resolution requiring the sale of the 1.23-acre surplus city property to the developer for the agreedupon price of $833,000, city records show.
The City Council voted 5-0 to move ahead with the project on Tuesday night, according to Claudia Isbell, assistant city clerk. Final approval will come up for a vote at a public hearing set for July 20.
Tipping is planning on building 18 one-bedroom/one-bathroom units of 775 square feet, and 21 two-bedroom/two-bathroom units of 1,147 square feet on the vacant lot. The property is located in a residential area just south of D Street, south of the 10 Freeway, west of San Antonio Avenue and near the Bellevue Memorial Park cemetery, according to a staff report written by Scott Murphy, executive director of Community Development.
The city of Ontario owns the land. Through the city’s housing authority, it has invested in other properties and housing projects near this site and in the city’s downtown, in an effort to increase housing in a very tight market.
“Although this is not technically in downtown, the housing market is so spread out. So there is a not a lot on the market,” explained Dan Bell, city spokesman, on Wednesday, July 7. “Bringing housing into town is good for everyone.”
He said the city is fortunate to receive interest in infill developments. More residents living near Euclid Avenue or Mountain Avenue will help local businesses and increase property tax revenues for the city.
“We are really happy that developers keep coming and they want to build houses in Ontario,” Bell said.
The property, on the west side of Mountain Avenue, has been subjected to “numerous nuisance conditions” including illegal dumping and possibly including hazardous materials, Murphy wrote in the staff report. “The nuisance conditions on the property can impact the neighboring affordable housing projects,” he wrote.
Richard Tipping, president of Tipping Development, did not return phone calls for comment on the proposed housing project.
The developer builds homes mostly in the San Gabriel Valley, including Arcadia, Pasadena and San Marino, according to its website and Facebook page. It is estimated to generate $3.1 million in annual revenues and has 17 employees at the Monrovia location, according to Buzzfile, a business website.