EPS provided economic, financial, and fiscal analysis to support two adjacent Specific Plans in Duarte designed to revitalize the City’s commercial core and leverage the LA Metro Gold Line service extension (City of Hope station). The City Council approved the Town Center Specific Plan in 2016 and City of Hope Specific Plan in 2018 (the latter won the APA Award of Excellence for Comprehensive Plan for a Small Jurisdiction).
While distinct, the two adjacent planning areas were dominated by automobile-oriented strip commercial centers with dated hotels, fast-food restaurants, and poorly connected urban landscape. The approved Specific Plans leveraged proximity to the nearby Civic Center, high school and middle school complex, Gold Line Station, and City of Hope medical campus to establish a more integrated, dynamic, and walkable social gathering places serving the entire city. EPS supported the planning process by analyzing socioeconomic conditions, real estate market and development feasibility, and options for a district-wide infrastructure financing strategy. Subsequently, EPS has assisted the City on entitlement negotiations for several mixed-use projects and developed a financing plan for “complete streets” infrastructure.
