$41M loan for DTLA micro housing

Seattle-based developer to build 227 flats of around 265 square feet apiece

HDC's Brad Padden with rendering of the Flower Street micro-housing (Housing Diversity Corp, Steinberg Hart)
HDC's Brad Padden with rendering of the Flower Street micro-housing (Housing Diversity Corp, Steinberg Hart)

A micro-housing developer has secured a $41.1 million construction loan for a 227-unit apartment complex in Downtown Los Angeles.

Seattle-based Housing Diversity Corporation, which focuses on urban multi-family properties, has scored financing for its eight-story building at 1411 S. Flower St. in South Park, Urbanize Los Angeles reported.

The Flower Street project would be built on an empty lot a block east of the Los Angeles Convention Center, which is now undergoing a $1 billion expansion.

The apartment complex is designed by Steinberg Hart, based in Downtown L.A., and would have five levels of wood-frame construction above a three-story concrete base. The contemporary brown building with divided balconies will include a rooftop deck, ground-floor courtyard and a breezeway.

Plans call for 227 studio units, most of which would be around 265 square feet in size, to be rented at market-rate.

The complex was entitled using Transit Oriented Communities incentives to permit a taller building with less open space than would otherwise be allowed by zoning. In exchange, the developer will rent 26 apartments to households at the extremely low-income level, or less than $24,850 a year for a single tenant.

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STS Construction, also based in Seattle, is partnering with Housing Diversity Corp. on the micro-housing project. Construction is expected to be completed by December 2023.

The Seattle-based team filed plans in November to build an eight-story, 92-unit micro apartment building at 603 S. Mariposa Ave. in Koreatown. It also has two other L.A. projects in the works.

A second Downtown project at 1317 South Grand Ave., will rise eight stories and include 151 apartments that average 325 square feet and will likely rent for around $1,600.

HDC is also building an eight-story micro apartment building at 1621 N. McCadden Place in Hollywood. Plans call for 69 studio apartments that average 375 square feet and likely rent for around $2,000.

[Urbanize Los Angeles] – Dana Bartholomew

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