There are approximately 14% fewer homes for sale in 2016 than there were a year earlier in Los Angeles and its suburbs, according to Zillow. As dwindling home inventory pushes prices higher and makes homebuyers think twice before setting out on their home search, the city of Ontario is looking forward to a boost from a new housing, retail and business project.

The new development, Ontario Ranch — formerly known as the New Model Colony — will take up a 13-square-mile area just west of I-15 and south of Route 60. It will be bordered by E. Riverside Drive along the north, Hamner Avenue along the east and Euclid Avenue on the west side.

It will include three master-planned communities:

  • West Haven by Lennar, a community with two different neighborhoods made up of single family residences (SFRs) priced from the mid $400s to the low $500s, which includes two future private parks;
  • Park Place by Lewis Community Developers and Stratham Communities, which will encompass several new SFR neighborhoods and a clubhouse, with properties priced from the $300s to the $500s; and
  • New Haven by Brookfield Residential, a mix of townhomes and SFRs, priced from the high $200s to the mid $500s.

Park Place runs a broker referral program, which offers “generous commissions” if you refer a client to one of their new homes.

A new park, Chaffey Park, will run through the middle of Ontario Ranch, intersecting Archibald Avenue, north of Merrill Avenue. It will also include several retail sites and eight new schools, which will serve the estimated 46,000 new homes to be built.

Most of the land Ontario Ranch will occupy used to be an agricultural preserve — much of it dairy farms.

The total amount invested to build Ontario Ranch, including the many public improvements like roads, schools and laying fiber-optic cable, amounts to $50 million, according to the city of Ontario. This investment will see a big return for the Ontario region — if they can fill the homes and business spaces.

Only a fraction of the project is complete so it’s hard to say whether Ontario developers have overestimated demand in the region. It’s also too early to say whether the infrastructure surrounding Ontario Ranch will be enough to handle the influx of households — specifically whether traffic will overwhelm the area.

One thing’s for sure. With such a large project, homebuyers are sure to notice. Local agents: what do you think of the project? Have your homebuyer clients expressed any interest in the new homes? Share your thoughts in the comments!