Bigger. Better. Hang-out-Worthy.

The Village Expasion Project

By Betty Cole
Staff Writer

The Village, Claremont’s small downtown area, will be expanded with the addition of new businesses, housing and a large, multi-level parking garage. Construction will begin this year and new businesses are expected to open during the fall of 2007.

At the present moment, the Village stretches approximately from Harvard Ave. to Indian Hill Blvd. between First and Fourth Streets. The expansion will occur on the opposite sides of Indian Hill and First Street between Oberlin Ave. and Second, respectively.

Because of the expansion across Indian Hill, the boulevard underwent many changes in 2001 and 2002 to make it a more “pedestrian friendly” roadway. The changes to Indian Hill, which included widening the sidewalks and adding traffic control measures and brick crosswalks, were completed in August of 2002 along with the addition of parallel parking, trees and landscaping along the street. According to the City of Claremont website, as the post-expansion center of the Village area, the improvements to Indian Hill Blvd. were “a crucial part of making the Village Expansion a success.”

The City’s website also states that planning for the Village Expansion Project began in the 1990s, at a time when city officials were discussing ways to improve the city’s downtown area. City Council approved what they call “the Specific Plan” for expansion in January 2001.

The City has hired several developers to organize and carry out approved expansion plans, including the Tolkin Group, in charge of most major retail area construction, and the Olson Company, in charge of the proposed “Village Walk” residential area. Though the decision has already been made as to what types of business will be included in the expanded area, the developers are in charge of negotiating with specific retailers and organizing tenancy agreements.

Most of the businesses to be built in the new part of the Village have already been chosen. Confirmed businesses include O My Sole, a shoe store, American Apparel, Vintage USA, a local winery called PH Wine Merchants, a local Improv Comedy Club, and a Nature and Health health food store. A number of new restaurants will also be located in the expanded area, many of which will be local. Kazama Sushi, Casablanca Bar and Grill (a Mediterranean restaurant), Moe’s Southwest Grill, Mick and Mark’s Steakhouse, a Cold Stone Creamery and a club called Claremont Jazz Lounge are all set take up resident in the new-and-improved portion of Claremont. A final eatery, still under negotiation, is a California Pizza Kitchen.

One of the largest ventures of the expansion project is the addition of the Laemmle Theatre. The five-screen, 800-seat movie theater will show independent and foreign films, as well as popular Hollywood features. The Laemmle Theatre will replace the Edwards La Verne Cinema as the closest commercial movie theatre to the colleges.

In addition, the City has made plans to build “live and work” loft spaces on the second and third stories of many new retail buildings, along with a forty-room Four Sisters Inn on the corner of Oberlin and First Street. Four Sisters already has several locations in California, and plans on setting up a so-called “boutique” hotel in Claremont, featuring a pool, several spa tubs, canopy beds, and hors d’oeuvres and other gourmet food. City officials expect that the addition of the Inn will garner much business from visitors of the Claremont Colleges, and see it as one of the most important aspects of the Expansion project.           

The City is also planning to build a large multi-level parking garage on First Street in order to accommodate the increased number of vehicles that will come with the increased number of businesses.

Though the new plan for development is expected to have a large effect on the city as a whole, City officials insist that this expansion is in line with the Village’s history as a constantly changing area. Located in an area that was largely devoted to citrus groves and fruit farming until the 1980s, Claremont’s commercial district has been continually expanding since that time.

For more information, visit the City of Claremont website at www.ci.claremont.ca.us.