MDNI Group Building Fully Affordable Workforce Housing

Studio City is slated to receive several dozen units of workforce housing, thanks to a boost from Parkview Financial.

MDNI Group is planning to build 51 units of workforce housing at 12750 Moorpark Street in Studio City, L.A. Business First reported. Parkview Financial provided a $10.6 million construction loan for the development.

The project would replace a single-family home at the site with a mix of studio, one-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments. The property will be 100 percent affordable, with 50 of the apartments set aside for low-income residents with the remaining one likely designated as a manager’s unit. By creating a fully affordable development, the project gained approval under Executive Directive 1, which expedites the approval process for such developments and allows them to skip public hearings.

Parkview Financial has seen “a growing opportunity in affordable housing, particularly in areas like Los Angeles, where a supportive policy environment and strong underlying demand are helping create a more scalable and attractive investment landscape,” founder and CEO Paul Rahimian said in a statement.

Case in point: A recent RentCafe report found that Los Angeles is among the top 10 cities in the country building affordable housing, with nearly a quarter of new inventory being income-restricted units. Because fully affordable developments in the Studio City area have “historically been difficult to finance relative to market-rate projects,” the 12750 Moorpark project marks “a rare addition to the neighborhood’s housing stock,” the company said.

The project is expected to be completed in March 2028.

Elsewhere on Moorpark Street in Studio City, developer Thomas Beadel is pursuing a fully affordable development of his own. The HVN Development founder is planning a five-story, 102-unit project at 12432-12446 Moorpark Street, all of which would be designated for low-income and moderate-income households, The Real Deal previously reported.

As part of its state-mandated housing goals, the City of Los Angeles must plan for 456,643 new housing units by 2029. Affordable housing must make up 40 percent, or 182,657, of those units.

— Chris Malone Méndez