Alhambra's "best-kept secret" just got greener

The Alhambra, a chic college campus-style complex in the midst of the City, is an oasis that surprises many long-time residents. And it just got greener.

The retail and office community on South Fremont Avenue and West Mission Road — whose tenants happen to include USC and Alhambra Source, as well as LA Fitness, DeVry University, LA County, and more — now boasts a three-acre conservation landscape. The effort is the first of its kind in Alhambra, according to local officials, and designed to reduce overall water usage of the unit by 85 percent.

“What we attempted to do is to maintain the beauty when we purchased the property and enhanced it wherever we could,” said Wayne Ratkovich, the owner of The Ratkovich Company, which purchased the land in Dec. 1999.

The Ratkovich Company received a grant from the San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District for $100,000 to help fund the project, and invested an additional $150,000. It took approximately one year to plan, design, and plant.

EPT Design, the landscapers for the project, chose to only include California native plants and trees as well as 29 different drought-resistant species, which will provide a habitat for native birds and butterflies.

The Alhambra also uses Bloom Energy Servers that produce electricity at nearly twice the efficiency of conventional technologies, San Gabriel Valley Tribune reports. "We have five Bloom boxes and they generate more than 25 percent of the electricity that's used at The Alhambra," Ratkovich told the Tribune. "The more we do of these kinds of things the better we feel. More importantly, we're able to attract tenants who are proud to be a part of this."