The need for more affordable housing in the Los Angeles area has been at the forefront of discussion for months, and two of the most active developers of lower-cost apartments are nearing approval for two new projects.
LINC Housing Corporation and AMCAL Multi-Housing Company are awaiting a Tuesday vote by the city L.A. County Board of Supervisors for their proposed affordable developments in Willowbrook and Florence-Firestone, according to Urbanize.
Rendering of Willowbrook 2 (Credit: LA County Board of Supervisors)
LINC wants to build a five-story, 100-unit apartment at 1854 E. 118th Street in Willowbrook. AMCAL has plans to construct a five-story, 109-unit affordable project at 1600-1616 E. Florence Avenue, according to Urbanize. AMCAL’s project, called Florence Apartments, is at the site of the Florence Library, a county library.
LINC is seeking $29 million in housing bonds for the project, which is aimed at households making between 30 and 60 percent of the area median income. It will include include one- to three-bedroom units.
It’s LINC’s first project up for approval in the L.A. area since the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development fined the firm last month for failing to conduct lead paint risk assessments at a property in Fresno.
Agoura Hills-based AMCAL, meanwhile, is seeking $26 million in bonds for its project, meant for low-income and very low-income seniors. It will include one- and two-bedroom units, along with a 10,000-square-foot replacement for the library.
AMCAL is also is in the approvals process for a 109-unit project at an industrial site in Downtown and has asked the city for a zoning change to allow the five-story project to rise.
Neither project up for approval Tuesday is within city limits, which would have opened them up for incentives for building affordable housing. The program requires developers to use union labor on the affordable projects that some developers, including AMCAL’s president Arjun Nagarkatti, said makes it more difficult to build. [Urbanize] — Dennis Lynch