Affordable Housing Coming To Vermont And Manchester

The abandon parcel of land located on the northeastern side of Vermont and Manchester will be seized and developed into affordable housing, retail, Metro transit plaza, preparatory boarding academy, and a training center. LA Superior Court Judge Daniel Murphy ruled April 26th, that LA County could use eminent domain to seize the land. Judge Murphy stated that owner Eli Sasson wouldn’t lose any rents and has failed to develop on the land. Los Angeles County will take possession of a four-acre property on May 7th. Owner Eli Sasson has left the land undeveloped since the 1992 Civil Unrest. Back in May of 2015, Former Councilmen Bernard Parks proposed a Vermont Entertainment District and even hosted a ground breaking event for the project, the website, of-course has been removed so I’m assuming those plans fell through. I welcome the affordable housing; I think that’s a much better use of the land.

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LA County Poised to Develop Vermont And Manchester Project

SB 827 Shot Dead

Legislators killed SB 827 in a 6 to 4 vote during the first committee meeting Tueday April 24^th 2018.  SB 827 was an ambitious bill proposed by Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) that would have drastically change zoning laws to increase construction of four and five story buildings near major transit/rail stations and frequently served bus stops.  The bill was originally introduced in January and was immediately hit with opposition.  Opponents of the bill claimed it would jeopardize the character of neighborhoods and lead to traffic and parking pains.   The bill was targeted towards single family neighborhoods where dense development was prohibited.  Wiener and pro-housing groups argued that the state had to intervene because decades of slow-growth policies by local governments have created a devastating housing shortage.   The lack of affordable housing has formed into a huge problem bringing California into an extreme housing crisis but many thought this solution was a little too drastic.  Although the bill was defeated many believe this is just the beginning of extreme measures to solve California’s Housing Crisis. 

 YIMBYS Defeated as California Transit Density Bill Stalls 

SB 827 is Dead. But California still can – and should- build more Housing Near Transit

SB 827 fails In Committee

 

 

Prototype House In South LA $165/sq

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From Curbed LA – Lehrer Architects designed these two prototype houses in the old school South Park, just south of Downtown (plus three others, in SP, Vermont Knolls, and Watts), at just $165 a square foot, which includes all the landscaping and site work. They’re about 1,300 square feet and each designed for classic indoor-outdoor SoCal living; there are three different layouts, but they all have that trellised patio and some kind of yard space. Press materials say the houses take an “aggressively optimistic attitude to [their] neighborhood.” (And they’ll need it; the two we visited were in pretty blighted surroundings.) The prototypes were developed by Restore Neighborhoods Los Angeles, which originally formed in 2009 to buy up foreclosed properties in low-income neighborhoods and keep the areas stabilized. Four more are ready to go up as soon as there’s financing.

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County Moves To Help Residents Facing Foreclosure

In an effort to help homeowners and renters at risk of losing their homes, Los Angeles County now will offer free counseling and information services for residents facing foreclosure.

The expanded Homeowners Notification Program, which the Board of Supervisors passed Tuesday, came as a result of a motion sponsored by Chairman Mark Ridley-Thomas and a county-backed state bill to help homeowners and lenders. The county is set to launch the expanded services by December 1^st.

Currently, residents facing foreclosure do not have access to free county services to help them save their homes.  With the new ordinance, the county’s Department of Consumer Affairs will work directly with lenders and homeowners to explore options to avoid foreclosure. In addition, the department’s investigators will work with law enforcement and regulatory agencies to identify and investigate real estate fraud and refer cases for civil or criminal prosecution. To cover the cost of this service, the new fee for notice of defaults and sales will be $7 while the fee for the recording of deeds will increase from $4 to $7.

Sadly, many residents who faced foreclosure have been targeted by fraudulent “foreclosure consultants” with promises of help only to be charged for costly services that ultimately never were provided. According to the consumer affairs department, many of those victims paid anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000 in fees to these fraudsters but nonetheless still lost their homes. Since 2006, more than 450,000 Los Angeles County homes have gone into foreclosure.

“This service is intended to protect residents and empower them to try to save their homes,” said Chairman Ridley-Thomas. “Too many people are targeted by predators and they end up not only losing their homes but also their life’s savings. The purpose of this program is to prevent foreclosures from happening but also help those who have been tricked. That is a good thing for all concerned.”

Affordable Housing Options Increasing In South LA

With the completion of Jefferson Square and Jefferson Park Terrace up in Jefferson Park, decent affordable housing options are finally becoming available for South Los Angeles residents.  Two more options nearing completion are the LA Pro II Apartments on Western Ave. (10311 S. Western Ave.), south of Century and Terracina Apartments right next to sheriff department on Imperial and Normandie, up the street from Southwest College.  LA Pro II Apts. is a 4-story 14.5 million dollar building,  consisting of 63 one-bedroom residential units and one community room built over 24,000 square feet of subterranean parking.  The Terracina Apts.  will consist of 72 multifamily units within the jurisdiction of the Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles. The one-, two- and three-bedroom apartment units will provide contemporary living for residents with patios overlooking the large landscaped park, storage space, modern kitchens and bathrooms.  Both projects are wrapping up construction.  LA Pro II Apts should be moving people in at the begin of November.  To obtain rental info on both projects you must visit the actual projects, the leasing offices are in the back of the projects.

Historical African American Hotel Convert To Apartments

Historic Dunbar Hotel on Central has recently wrapped up a $30 million dollar renovation actually restoring most of its historical design.  Now known as the Dunbar Village  just pened Dunbar Village, the new center offers 83 apartments for low-income families and seniors with on-site amenities like management and maintenance, laundry rooms, outdoor barbecues, a health and fitness center, and a media room, and group programing like movie nights and monthly birthday parties. Rents range from $437 to $875 per month.

Dunbar Village, Historic African American Hotel now Apartments