At a ceremony last week, National CORE and Prima Development broke ground on a new affordable housing complex at the former MacLaren Children's Center site in El Monte.
Planned of the eastern 8.2 acres of the former foster youth shelter, the project is to include 202 homes for households earning between 30 and 70 percent of the area median income. Roughly half of the housing will serve families, while the remaining half will serve seniors ages 62 and older.
AC Martin remains the architect for the Esperanza Village development, which is described as a Mission-style community with three-story buildings. Plans call for a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, as well as a community health center.
Revised site plan for Esperanza VillageAC Martin / Prima Development
Groundbreaking for the new housing complex coincides with the grand opening of Hilda L. Solis Community Park, which will sit side by side with Esperanza Village along Gilman Road and Durfee Avenue.
“By bringing together much-needed housing, public park space, new jobs and greater access to healthcare, this community represents the kind of thoughtful investment that strengthens neighborhoods, improves quality of life and creates lasting opportunities for El Monte families," said Prima Development president Fernando Vasquez in a news release.
Both occupy the footprint of the shuttered MacLaren facility served as a temporary shelter for foster youth in Los Angeles County from the 1960s through the early 2000s, when the facility closed in the aftermath of a lawsuit over its treatment of mentally-ill children.
Follow us on social media:
Twitter / Facebook / LinkedIn / Threads / Instagram / Bluesky
- Esperanza Village (Urbanize LA)
Looking for affordable housing? Visit lahousing.lacity.org/aahr and housing.lacounty.gov
