Domus Development to Replace South LA Church With Homes

Domus Development wants to replace a church in South Los Angeles with 42 affordable homes.

The Irvine-based developer has filed plans to build a 42-unit apartment complex at 823 West Manchester Avenue, Urbanize Los Angeles reported. It would raze a 2,200-square-foot Life Enrichment Ministries church and parking lot.

Plans for the third-acre lot include a four-story affordable complex on Manchester, just west of Hoover Street. It’s not clear if the congregation of the 1950s church, led by Bishop Carl Mcknight, has a future home.

Domus would employ the city’s Executive Directive 1 to fast-track its development.

The project, known as Domus Manchester, would be designed by Culver City-based KFA Architecture. The gray and white complex, trimmed in powder blue, would include miniature awnings outside its one- and two-bedroom apartments.

It would feature a courtyard, recreation room and a rooftop deck, plus five on-site parking spots, although no parking is required by zoning, according to AB 2097.

The proposed project would be built a block to the east of Manchester and Vermont Avenue, where 180 units of affordable housing are now under construction as part of the Vermont Manchester redevelopment.

Domus Development is an affiliate of Newport Partners, based in Irvine. The firm recently completed similar affordable housing projects in Panorama City and Echo Park. It recently broke ground on more affordable housing in the unincorporated community of Florence-Firestone.

— Dana Bartholomew