When you think of real estate development, it’s easy to imagine huge development companies building high-rise towers and million-dollar properties, but it can sometimes be a small family business instead. Along with Related California, Irvine-based Foundwell Development Group and Monterey Park-based Longo Realty have their eyes on Alhambra for new housing development projects.
Before starting Foundwell Development Group, William Yang was a project manager for another real estate development firm that had thousands of units under development in Southern California, but he wanted to try his hand at doing it on his own.
“I’ve always wanted to be an entrepreneur. My dad also started his own business, so I wanted to follow suit,” Yang said. He’s always been involved in real estate in some form — he started flipping houses as a side hustle after college, doing small projects on the side here and there.
He realized that those small projects could become big projects, so he started Foundwell as a full-service development firm focusing on residential real estate. As a full-service firm, Foundwell does design, investment, and manages its own construction.
“As a developer, you’re always looking at new projects and new areas that you think have potential, such as the site that we’ve acquired in Alhambra that we think can benefit the whole community,” said Yang. After the City updated the zoning codes to increase the density allowed in certain areas, Foundwell has identified areas of underutilized land in Alhambra where it intends to build more housing units.
Unlike the new Lantern Terrace complex, Foundwell’s projects are mostly market rate housing, but have an affordable housing component with rent control, Yang explained. To fully address the housing crisis, both market rate and affordable housing options are necessary. “In California, there’s a housing shortage. There’s definitely been a need for housing, with home prices going up and rent going up. A lot of that is the result of a lack of supply. I think that’s a direct impact we can make in Alhambra,” Yang said.
California’s housing shortage isn’t anything new. The California Statewide Housing Plan calls it a crisis “a half century in the making.” It attributes the shortage to “decades of underproduction underscored by exclusionary policies,” and highlights how the crisis disproportionately affects lower-income families and people of color.
The Statewide Housing Plan set a goal to build two-and-a-half million more housing units across the state over the current eight-year planning cycle, with at least one million of those homes meeting affordable housing needs. As a small development group, Foundwell is doing its part; Yang has a personal goal to build 500 units within the next five years.
With Longo Realty, Alex Lai anticipates building two- to three-hundred new housing units over the next five years, a marked increase from the one hundred units they’ve built over the last 30 years. Lai’s family started Longo Realty as a real estate brokerage office in the 80s and they ventured into the construction industry in the 90s. Lai joined Longo in 2018 after working in finance and commercial real estate for ten years, but his first job was shoveling the dirt and sweeping the floors at the family business’ construction sites.
Lai was born and raised in Monterey Park, so he grew up visiting Alhambra. Over the years, he watched Main Street transform into the vibrant business corridor it is today, just one of the reasons Alhambra has become more attractive to developers. As the city changes its zoning codes to allow for more housing, it’s easier and more appealing for developers to enter the city.
Longo Realty finished construction of a new condominium project in Monterey Park earlier this year that had been in the works for ten years, which has an element of affordable housing. “We saw the need for affordable housing way back in the early 2000s, but accumulating properties and applying just took such a long time. We were able to bring one of the first projects since 2008 to the City of Monterey Park.”
Like Yang, Lai takes pride in seeing the fruits of his labor. “You get to watch the process of something going from dirt to a building. You’re part of creating a great culture and great cities. We create opportunities and we hope to give people a brighter outlook on housing and affordable housing,” he said.
At the end of the day, Foundwell and Longo are both doing essential work. Yang enjoys the challenge of leading his own development company, and that “maybe 20-30 years down the line, I can drive around and look at my past projects. There’s something concrete about being in real estate.”
Foundwell Development Group and Longo Realty are finalizing their plans for their new developments in Alhambra and plan to file within the upcoming weeks. For more information, visit their websites at foundwelldg.com and longodevelopment.com.
