West Covina City Council members on Tuesday, July 20, had two housing developments before them and gave them both unanimous approvals.
The same developer, Meritage Homes of Scottsdale, Arizona, is behind both. One proposes 119 homes on Workman Avenue on a site that used to house a childcare center, and the second envisions 84 homes on Cameron Avenue.
Councilman Tony Wu requested the developer include a down payment assistance program be added to each project because the city wants to attract first-time buyers.
“You’re willing to help out, right?” Wu said to Matt Maehara of Meritage. “Just open up your wallet. … I hope you guys have a program, it’s much easier for me to vote yes.”
Up to the podium stepped Aaron Talarico, vice-president of forward planning for Meritage.
“We’re always willing to help out,” Talarico said. “I mean, West Covina for us since 2016 has been hands-down our most important city we’ve been involved with. It’s been such a great working relationship with West Covina.”
As such, Talarico said the company can make a total of $200,000 available, eligible for homebuyers in both projects.
The Cameron Avenue project is being called Cameron II. Meritage Homes previously built Cameron 56, a nearby community of 56 townhomes which sold out in less than a year. Talarico surmised that 34 of those units went to first-time buyers.
Vincent Place, the name of the Workman Avenue project, will feature 47 single-family, two-story homes, ranging from 1,465 to 2,125 square feet and 72 attached, three-story townhomes, ranging from 1,214 to 1,822 square feet. Each home will have a two-car garage.
The development, expected to break ground in the second quarter of 2022, will be built on the 8.05-acre site that was formally the Vincent Children’s Center. Based on the current market, price estimates range from mid-$500,000s to mid-$600,000s.
The 84 units in Cameron II are planned on 3.285 acres along the 1600 block of West Cameron Avenue and will feature three-story townhomes with plans containing 1,210, 1,500 and 1,796 square feet. Each unit will have a two-car garage.
Prices are expected to begin in the low-$500,000s.
The Planning Commission had approved Cameron II but pared down to 80 units to create more common space and add 25 onsite guest-parking spaces, but the council agreed to stick with the original plan of 84 units when the builder asked the commission’s amendment be eliminated.
This project could break ground as early as September.
Because of the housing shortage, the state assigns cities’ fair share to supply more homes. The Regional Housing Needs Assessment number for West Covina for 2021-29 is 5,346 units.
