Downtown Montebello is in need of a facelift, and it’s finally scheduled to get one. 

BLVD MRKT, an eatery and retail space on the corner of sixth street and Whittier Boulevard, is slated to open this upcoming summer.

The project was grown from community members who want to invest in their neighborhood.

Gentefy, a social enterprise company, bought the building from the city of Montebello for $400,000 and plans to invest $2.5 million to get the project started. The building is already projected to be worth $4 million in the next few years.

Most of the initial investors were young professionals who live within five miles of the city. 

“What we found was there are a lot of people like myself and my team and in this community who are getting bachelor degrees, they are traveling, so their tastes are changing,” said Gentefy Founder and CEO Barney Santos.

The company plans to rent food court-like spaces to local businesses that are minority-owned. Each business will receive workforce development, and community members will be able to apply for culinary apprenticeships and internships. 

Marlon Gonzalez and his girlfriend Pilar Castaneda are one of the first tenants of the project. They operate Café Santo, a pop-up coffee and tea bar.

Marlon plans to quit his part-time barista job and run his business full-time when the building opens. Castaneda is excited to be able to share the business with the community where she was raised.

“I went to other cities to look for good food and good music, and now everything is changing in Montebello,” said Castaneda.  “I’m especially very happy about that.