MBK starts leasing for 344-unit Esperanza apartments near Duarte Station

Just north of the Metro L Line, Irvine-based developer MBK Rental Living has started leasing for a new multifamily residential complex dubbed Esperanza at Duarte Station.

Located on a 4.3-acre property at the intersection of Highland Avenue and Business Center Drive, the completed development will eventually include 344 studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments surrounding a seven-story central parking structure.

According to a leasing website, rents at Esperanza will range from as low as $1,980 per month for a studio to as much as $4,041 per month for a three-bedroom unit.

Designed by AO, Esperanza consists of a series of five-story wood-frame buildings, as well as a linear park feeding into pedestrian routes toward the adjacent Metro station. Likewise, plans call for a slew of on-site amenities including rooftop decks, a large swimming pool and spa deck, co-working space, and a private dog park.

The development site sits across the L Line tracks from the 110-acre City of Hope campus, which is poised to undergo an expansion that will increase its patient capacity by 1,000 and its employment base by 1,500 through the 2030s.

“We have elevated the amenities with this community to mirror the lifestyles of its residents by designing high-end facilities including pocket parks in the courtyards, a landscaped rooftop, and open floor plan designs that will attract a diverse array of residents, from professionals and families to empty nesters and students along with a special emphasis on frontline workers at the City of Hope,” said MBK president Ken McCarren in a statement. “At the same time, there are even more reasons to rent given the current macro-economic environment of rising interest rates.”

The first move-ins are scheduled to begin in Fall 2022, with the full project set to open in early 2023.

MBK, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Mitsui & Co., acquired the project site in early 2021 through a joint venture with Haseko Corporation.

• Esperanza at Duarte (Urbanize LA)