DUARTE, CA: Elected officials and civic leaders turned out for a ground breaking ceremony for Huntington Courts, a new 51-home redevelopment project on 4.42 acres on the north side of the 2100 block of Huntington Dr. in Duarte.

The building site encompasses land formerly occupied by two Route 66-era motels and other property assembled with the help of the Duarte Redevelopment Agency. "This is an exciting day in Duarte. We've really seen the transition from Route 66 with the Capri Motel that gave people a place to stay in their travels, to a bustling city in need of additional housing," said Duarte Redevelopment Chairman, John Fasana, speaking at the ground breaking ceremony.

"This is a beautiful project that we as a community can be proud of," he said. Owner/developer AHSU LLC, headed by Parbhubhai Patel and Manoj Patel has selected Arcadia based Mur-Sol Construction to build 41 detached single family homes, two four-plexes and one duplex. Igguiden Architectural Group, Inc., of Costa Mesa and Saito Design Group of Rancho Cucamonga designed the project, a courtyard garden design.

The two to four bedroom homes will range in size from 1,230 square feet to 1,800 square feet with selling prices to start in the $500,000 range. Model homes will be ready by November. The first phase of 21 homes is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2008.