Four Developments Open in Chino Hills

Three new home developments are opening this month in the 620-acre master-planned community of Village Oaks in Chino Hills.

A fourth project--Oak Park by Zellner Communities--opened last weekend; two of the projects will open this weekend, while the last of the current batch will open later this month.

Village Oaks is the first community to be built under the guidelines developed by the Planning Center for the Chino Hills Specific Plan, at 18,000 acres the largest specific plan in California, according to Peter R. Templeton, principal of the Newport Beach-based firm.

“When California Melcor asked us to design Village Oaks, we immediately knew what direction we needed to take: A gentle balance between new housing and preservation of the many oak trees that give the community its name,” he said.

Of the 620 acres in the development by California Melcor Inc., Costa Mesa, 350 acres will remain open space, 15 acres will be devoted to schools and parks and 255 acres will be developed. Village Oaks will have a total of 1,400 houses and apartments when all phases are completed.

Opening this weekend are Brighton View by Grupe Development Co.--Southern California, featuring three- and four-bedroom single-family houses priced from $127,450 to $162,990, and Citation Homes at Village Oaks by Citation Homes, three- and four-bedroom single-family houses priced from $115,990 to $135,000.

Oak Park by Zellner Communities Inc., three- and four-bedroom single-family houses priced from $126,990 to $155,990, opened late last month.

Exact prices for the three- and four-bedroom, single-family detached houses in the Skyline project by Rhoades Development have not been determined, but they will range from the low $120,000s to the high $140,000s.

The Planning Center’s Templeton said that the plan for Village Oaks is based on an interior loop road focused around the village core. To encourage pedestrian movement, the loop road will contain a widened greenbelt area serving as the connecting link to schools, open space, bicycle and equestrian trails and parks.

In addition, Village Oaks will also include an apartment development by the Grupe Co. and attached for-sale housing by two other firms, according to Ralph B. Young, president of California Melcor Inc.

His firm--founded in 1980--is the California unit of Melcor Developments Ltd., based in Edmonton, Canada, and dating back to 1923.