SCAH-LA Eyes Affordable Housing Complex in Mid-Wilshire

Southern California Affordable Housing has pitched a plan to build a nine-story affordable apartment building in Mid-Wilshire.

The Rancho Cucamonga-based nonprofit developer, doing business as SCAH-LA, has filed plans to construct a 79-unit complex at 920 South La Brea Avenue, Urbanize Los Angeles reported. It would replace a closed car-rental yard.

The proposal comes on the heels of the developer filing plans to build an eight-story, 148-unit affordable complex in Westlake, across from MacArthur Park.

Plans for the La Brea Avenue project between 9th Street and Olympic Boulevard call for 79 apartments, of which all would be affordable except for a manager’s unit.

The developer would employ density bonus incentives to build a larger building than local zoning rules allow. It would also employ Mayor Karen Bass’ Executive Order 1, which streamlines approval for affordable housing projects.

The plain rectangular stucco building, designed by South Park-based MVE + Partners, is notable for its bright crimson and jet black color scheme, on white. The slim complex has a stack of red outdoor stairways, facing the street, according to a rendering.

The project would rise along a stretch which has recently seen the construction of similar-scaled infill developments, such as a pair of mixed-use buildings developed near the intersection of 8th Street and La Brea, according to Urbanize.

Those projects were developed by Wiseman Residential and Element Investments. Both projects are within a few blocks of the La Brea/Wilshire Metro Station, as is 920 La Brea.

Southern California Affordable Housing, founded in 2001, is led by Jeffrey Burum, who co-founded National CORE, an affordable housing developer also based in Rancho Cucamonga, according to state business records.

— Dana Bartholomew