Affordable Housing Building Coming to West Los Angeles

Southern California Affordable Housing is planning to redevelop an abandoned commercial building in West Los Angeles into a 100-percent affordable building.

On May 28, SCAH-LA filed an application with the Los Angeles Department of City Planning that would transform a two-story commercial building at 10808 West Santa Monica Boulevard into 279 studio and one-bedroom apartments, Urbanize Los Angeles reported. All of the proposed units are reserved for moderate-, low- and very low-income households.

In Los Angeles in 2025, moderate income is defined as $89,550 for one person. Low-income is $84,850 for one person, and very low for one person is $53,000.

According to SCAH-LA’s application, the project would include a bevy of addresses from 10808 Santa Monica Boulevard to 10830 Santa Monica Boulevard, as well as four around the corner on Glendon Avenue. The property at 10830 Santa Monica, which would purportedly serve as the footprint on the corner, was once a Staples office supply store. The building would have on-site parking for 23 vehicles.

Los Angeles’ Zone Information and Map Access System (ZIMAS) shows the primary address for the project as a small two-story building next door at 10808 and 10810 Santa Monica Boulevard.

Designs for the redevelopment are being handled by Metropolis Architecture. Plans for the project depict a contemporary podium-style building wrapped around a central courtyard, Urbanize reported.

Because the building would consist entirely of affordable units, the project can move forward utilizing state density bonus laws under AB 1763 and streamlined and expedited approvals under Executive Directive 1.

The Santa Monica Boulevard project is the latest large, income-restricted apartment development SCAH is pursuing under ED1.

In February, the Rancho Cucamonga-based company proposed an eight-story mixed-use development at 8820 South Sepulveda Boulevard in Westchester with 333 studio and one-bedroom apartments atop a 52-space parking garage and 1,825 square feet of ground-floor retail. In March, the company applied to build a nine-story building with 96 one-bedroom apartments at 220 Veteran Avenue in Westwood.

Last August, SCAH filed plans to build an eight-story, 148-unit affordable building in Westlake, across the street from MacArthur Park. That same month, the company also proposed a nine-story, 79-unit affordable development in Mid-Wilshire.

— Chris Malone Méndez