City Ventures Indian Hill Project

Seventy townhomes on a Motel 6 tennis court

Claremont's city council split 3-2 to approve 70 for-sale townhomes on the decommissioned tennis-court portion of the Motel 6 property on American Avenue. City Ventures is the developer; ten of the units are set aside as affordable.

What's proposed

Seventy Spanish-style townhome condominiums across ten separate buildings, mostly three stories and topped out around 34 feet 7 inches. Units within 57 feet of the western property line step down to about 24 feet — a privacy buffer for whoever borders that side. Unit sizes run 1,155 to 1,639 square feet with two-, three-, and optional four-bedroom plans. Parking totals 140 covered garage spaces plus 11 uncovered, all reached through a single driveway off American Avenue. Two common open-space areas sit near the center of the site. Ten units are income-restricted under Claremont's inclusionary housing ordinance — seven at moderate income, three at low income.

The site and the corridor

The site is the tennis-court portion of the Motel 6 property, on land the city rezoned from commercial-freeway to medium-density residential and later listed as a Housing Element opportunity site — a parcel California requires cities to identify as capable of absorbing their share of regional housing need. City Ventures first floated a 65-unit version in 2023; the Architectural Commission reviewed it and asked for revisions before the current 70-unit plan went to hearing.

The design

KTGY is the architect of record, with C2 Collaborative as landscape architect and C&V Consulting, Inc. as civil engineer. None of the three were named in the city's own public-facing project materials or press coverage; all three were confirmed directly off the project's architectural plan set.

Timeline

• 2023 — City Ventures proposes an earlier 65-unit concept; the Architectural Commission reviews it and requests revisions
• 2025-04-23 — City Ventures holds a community meeting to present the 70-unit plan
• 2025-05-06 — Planning Commission reviews Tentative Tract Map No. 84564, reportedly recommending approval 5-1
• 2025-06-10 — City council approves TTM 84564 by a 3-2 vote

How it got here

A Tentative Tract Map — TTM #84564 — subdivides the 2.67-acre net site so the 70 townhomes can be sold as individual condominiums rather than held as rental units. Architectural Review #23-A10 covers the building design itself. The single-driveway access off American Avenue was reportedly a major point of neighbor concern during review, though no minutes or public-comment record have been pulled to confirm specifics. The 3-2 council vote is one of the closer margins on this board — most approvals here carry wider majorities, and a split vote is itself a signal of contested politics around the project.

Why this one matters

Ten inclusionary units — seven moderate, three low — on a 70-unit for-sale project is a modest but real commitment under Claremont's ordinance, and the site itself is a textbook Housing Element opportunity parcel doing what it was designated to do: absorb medium-density housing on land that used to serve a different use entirely. The 3-2 vote is the more interesting fact. Most of what reaches approval on this board clears with wider margins; a split council on a project already reduced from an earlier concept suggests real friction that a wider look at the record would clarify.

What this means if you live nearby

A Motel 6 tennis court becomes 70 townhomes, ten of them income-restricted, reached by a single driveway off American Avenue. The developer said it would move straight to permits after approval, so construction could be closer than the paper trail alone suggests. If you're near this stretch of Indian Hill, the 3-2 vote is worth knowing — it wasn't uncontested.