By Susan Motander
Members of the Monrovia City Council joined officials from Avalon Bay to turn over ceremonial shovels of dirt to celebrate the construction of a 154-unit mixed-use apartment complex. There will be several store fronts opening on Myrtle Avenue along with the apartments on the upper levels (including 13 affordable housing units). In addition to the 5-story apartment building, there will be a 6-story parking structure behind the building opening onto Chestnut Avenue.
David Kosco, the architect who designed the complex, said that he was inspired by the clean Prairie School lines of the Monrovia Public Library. He also said that he saw the library as the northern anchor for Old Town and the homes in the Avalon Bay project would be the southern anchor.
Kosco said the style of the building was rather minimalist to keep with the Library and modern architect Irving Gill’s concept of nature being the ornament of the building. Kosco said he first saw Myrtle Avenue on a clear day and the contrast of the white walls and the bright blue skies inspired him to recreate the image at Avalon Bay.
