Another nursery makes way for townhomes in Gardena

Another of Gardena's once abundant nurseries has been felled for redevelopment.

The latest property, a more than four-acre site at 13615-13633 S. Vermont Avenue, was the longtime home of Moneta Nursery, which ceased operations earlier this year.  In place of plants and garden supplies, developer Melia Homes is planning a new condominium subdivision consisting of 16 buildings and 84 residential units.

The project, named Evergreen Row, is being designed by the San Diego area firm Summa Architecture.  Plans call for a series of three-story structures containing mostly two-, three-, and four-bedroom dwellings, save for two designated affordable units, which would feature just one bedroom each.

Parking for more than 200 vehicles would be distributed throughout the site, both in surface stalls and in enclosed garages.

An initial study published in Fall 2020 by the City of Gardena pointed to a roughly one-year construction period for Evergreen Row, although work expected to begin in January 2021 at the time.

The Evergreen Row site is located a short distance north from  the intersection of 141st Street and Vermont Avenue, where KB Home is building a similar 63 townhome project, and just a half-mile east of Normandie Avenue, where a different nursery was recently demolished to make way for a project from Olson Homes.

Melia Homes, which is headquartered in Irvine, is already in the midst of construction on one new development in Gardena: a 114-unit townhome project which replaced an industrial building near the intersection of Artesia Boulevard and Western Avenue.

• Gardena (Urbanize LA)