Villaggio on Route 66

Rancho Cucamonga, San Bernardino County, CA

Villaggio on Route 66 was officially grand opened in December 2009. It is a 166-unit mixed-income community and one of the premier multifamily developments in the entire Inland Empire region.

The project was the subject of much controversy when it was first proposed in the City of Rancho Cucamonga. The property site is located along Foothill Boulevard (Route 66), one block west of Haven Avenue, both major thoroughfares and commercial corridors that run through the heart of the city. The north-facing boundary to the rear of the site abuts an established single-family neighborhood. The week of the first community meeting, a single individual from the neighborhood went door to door handing out flyers and encouraging the entire neighborhood to show up and protest the project. His efforts worked. Many residents of the neighborhood showed up at that first meeting and spent two hours railing against the proposed project. The complaints were that property values would be diminished; crime would increase; schools would be overcrowded; and one final argument: the neighbors would have three-story buildings looking down into their back yards.

We listened intently to the discussion, then invited the residents to visit other communities to see the quality of our product and meet and talk to some of the residents to alleviate the fear of what the protesters called “those people.” We ran single-family sales comps around those neighborhoods and demonstrated that the single-family values were indeed higher next to our developments than the value of similar homes in the vicinity. Finally, we invited a representative group to a charrette with the project’s design team, and the group came up with a design that “stepped down” the development density from the commercial frontage to the residential rear of the site: cottages on the boundary with the single-family homes; two-story buildings in the middle; and three-story buildings on the Foothill frontage, the main thoroughfare. The community accepted the design and project concept. When Villaggio went before the City Council for final approval, the only residents who spoke did so in support of the project. The development was entitled and was completed in December 2009 with the same income mix as originally proposed.

The neighborhood is thriving. A restaurant next door on an adjoining parcel was renovated and a new office building was completed across from Villaggio. The development of Villaggio was a catalyst for new development along that entire block of Foothill Boulevard and is testament to community participation and the viability of creating high quality mixed-income communities.

Villaggio is a mixed-income community for households earning 35%, 45%, and 60% of AMI, and also has 35 market-rate units. Workforce Homebuilders joint-ventured this affordable community with National Community Renaissance (CORE) and social services are coordinated by CORE’s social service affiliate, the Hope Through Housing Foundation. The Tuscan-inspired development consists of one, two, and three-story buildings with spacious two and three-bedroom units. Amenities include a 5,400 square foot community building, two tot lots, a pool and fitness center, dog park, business center, and high quality after-school programming provided by Hope Through Housing Foundation.

The landscape plan provides shade and greenbelt areas (utilizing water-saving synthetic grass turf), pedestrian paths, and gathering nodes. Villaggio is intended for families with 104 two-bedroom and 62 three-bedroom units designed around the pool, spa, barbeque patio area, and community room. The units feature Energy Star appliances including water heater, refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, disposal and microwave. Units are wired for high-speed Internet and have a patio or balcony and private garage.