City gives developers $7M lifeline for affordable project

Los Angeles will give up to $7 million to affordable housing developers whose 122-unit project in Broadway-Manchester was threatened by rising construction costs and interest rates.

The City Council voted to increase funding to Abode Communities, a nonprofit based in Downtown, and Neighborhood Housing Services of L.A. County, based in Koreatown, for their mixed-use project at 8727 South Broadway, Urbanize Los Angeles reported.

Plans for the development known as Manchester Urban Homes east of the 110 Freeway call for a 76-unit affordable apartment building facing Broadway and 46 affordable townhomes behind the apartments.

The extra funds from the city would allow Abode and Neighborhood Housing Services to maintain full funding for the project and retain previously awarded bonds and low-income housing tax credits.

“The construction costs for Manchester Urban Homes increased by $9 million between the initial bid in 2021 and the closing bid in 2022 due to supply chain disruptions, shortage of skilled labor and increased material costs,” said the funding motion introduced by Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who represents the district.

“At the same time the construction loan interest rates increased such that the project costs increased by $5.4 million.”

The funding gap was reduced to $7 million – now covered by the city – thanks to value engineering and additional grant funds, it said.

The 2.7-acre project would include the permanent supportive apartment building with unspecified space for shops and restaurants and parking for 69 cars. It would replace a vacant lot on Broadway between 87th and 88th streets.

The four-story building would include one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, from 633 to 1,176 square feet. The townhomes would be built in eight two-story buildings to the west. Both would serve households earning up to 60 percent of area median income.

The project, designed by Los Feliz-based John V. Mutlow Architects, appears to include an L-shaped apartment building in bright orange and white, with white townhomes at the rear.

In September, Abode Communities broke ground to convert three century-old medical lab and clinic buildings at 912 East Broadway in Glendale into 40 affordable homes for senior adults.

In May, Abode Communities teamed up with AvalonBay Communities to pitch plans to build 1,200 apartments – a quarter of them affordable – at a former Marine Corps Air Station in Tustin. Also, it’s building a 90-unit supportive housing complex for homeless and disabled residents in San Pedro.

In 2021, Abode and AvalonBay were chosen to redevelop the 8-acre West Los Angeles Civic Center site, a sprawling mixed-use project that will include residential, office and retail components.

— Dana Bartholomew