The Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission has approved a 104-unit condominium project on the site of a shuttered Covina elementary school, clearing the way for two-story homes arranged around private roads and shared green spaces to replace a campus that sat empty for years. The project, called The Cove at Clydebank, occupies 8.55 acres at 5034 N. Clydebank Avenue, the former home of Alice M. Ellington Elementary School.
The former campus was a closed elementary school owned by the Azusa Unified School District, according to EdData. As first reported by Urbanize LA, developer RC Homes proposed the residential condominium development that the county commission has now signed off on.
Before the district could even consider selling the land, it needed clearance from the state. In November 2024, the California Department of Housing and Community Development formally validated the school board's resolution declaring the campus “exempt surplus land” eligible for public disposition, a determination that opened the door to a private sale.
From Light Agriculture Zoning to a Dense Residential Site
The parcel's zoning history underscores how significant a shift this project represents for the surrounding neighborhood. Before entitlement reviews began, the property was zoned A-1-6000, or Light Agriculture, with a land use designation of Public and Semi-Public under the county's general plan, according to DCG Strategies, and it sits bounded by low-density single-family residential neighborhoods.
The Cove at Clydebank relies on density bonus incentives that allow more housing than the underlying zoning would otherwise permit, per Urbanize LA's reporting. As part of that arrangement, 16 of the 104 homes are set aside for households earning up to 80 percent of the area median income. Angeleno Associates is designing the development.
Because the property sits in an unincorporated pocket of Covina, the project fell under the review authority of the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission rather than Covina's city council. The county has an East San Gabriel Valley Area Plan, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning.
Environmental Review and Site Plans
On September 3, 2026, the county's Department of Regional Planning filed a CEQA Notice of Exemption for the project, determining that swapping the closed school for single-family residential condominiums is exempt from further environmental review under CEQA Guidelines Section 15183, according to filings with the California State Clearinghouse. That exemption rests on environmental review already completed for the broader regional area plan.
The project plans include approximately 241 parking spaces, a small park with amenities, and landscaped areas. The plans describe a development meant to knit into its surrounding neighborhood rather than stand apart from it.
Ongoing Negotiations Between District and Developer
Even as entitlements moved forward, the business side of the deal remained unsettled. In September 2026, the Azusa Unified School District Board of Education instructed its real estate brokers in closed session to negotiate amended purchase-and-sale terms for the Ellington property, including price adjustments and 30-day deposit extensions, according to a filing reviewed by Govly.
While the campus sat vacant awaiting redevelopment, it drew the kind of security trouble that often follows empty institutional buildings. In June 2026, a 911 caller reported an unconfirmed incident involving three people at the closed facility, according to a report on Citizen.
Other Housing Development in the Region
Urbanize LA has also reported on a 37-home development in San Dimas.
The Clydebank project adds to a broader pattern playing out across the San Gabriel Valley, where housing developments are increasingly replacing shuttered school campuses amid falling enrollment and a declining population of children, as Urbanize LA's coverage notes.
