Fashion District firm plans 73-unit South LA development

Haroni Investments, a property management firm based in the Fashion District, is the latest player to try its hand at South L.A., a part of town that has seen many projects linger in the pipeline without rising out of the ground.

Haroni filed plans with the city Tuesday for a five-story, 73-unit apartment building on a lot it owns at 6109 South Crenshaw Boulevard. As part of its density bonus request, six units would be reserved for very low-income households, city planning documents show.

It is unknown whether Haroni would develop the property itself, or bring on a development partner. The firm could not be reached for comment.

If approved, Haroni would ride the momentum of two mega-developments currently in the works in South L.A.: Carmel Partners’ 2 million-square-foot residential tower, known as Cumulus, and “the Reef,” a multi-structural, $1.2 billion complex that has already received approval from City Council.

Structurally, South L.A. has the bones of many other areas that have recently seen development booms.

“It’s got rundown inventory, old industrial products, proximity to Downtown, which is the core of all development right now — and all of that makes it appetizing for developers,” CoStar analyst Steve Basham told The Real Deal.

But it is also a low-income and high-crime area. Locals are largely apprehensive of developments that suggest gentrification. The “Reef,” developed by physicians Avedis and Ara Tavitian, faced heavy opposition from affordable housing advocates who argued that most of its offerings will be inaccessible for most of South L.A.’s residents.

“It’s probably going to take a One Santa Fe or a Vermont, that first big project [that succeeds], to prove the viability of the area,” Basham said.

The site of Haroni’s development is occupied by a single-story medical center. Haroni acquired it for $820,000 last June, property records show.