$58.5m in bonds approved for affordable housing in Boyle Heights and Winnetka

As part of its consent calendar, the Los Angeles City Council has approved the issuance of more than $58 million in bond financing for the construction of two affordable and permanent supportive housing developments.

The first, called Palm Vista, is being developed through a partnership between Hollywood Community Housing Corporation and GTM Holdings.  Plans call for razing a collection of automobile-related businesses at 20116-20128 Sherman Way in Winnetka to make way for a new four-story edifice featuring 44 supportive housing units, 45 low-income housing units, and two manager's apartments.

The apartments would come in a mix of one- and two-bedroom floor plans, all of which would be set aside for households earning no more than 50 percent of the area median income.

The funding approved by the City Council includes a maximum of $25 million in tax-exempt multifamily housing conduit revenue bonds and roughly $2.4 million in taxable multifamily housing conduit revenue bonds.  Palm Vista has previously been estimated to cost $48.5 million - roughly $530,000 per unit - and includes funding from Los Angeles County and CRA/LA.

In Boyle Heights, the Council has approved up to $31.3 million in bond funding for the construction of La Veranda, a proposed development from Abode Communities.

The project, designed by Abode, would rise from two Metro-owned sites at the intersection of Cesar E. Chavez Avenue and Soto Street in Boyle Heights.  Plans call for the construction of two four-story buildings containing 77 one-, two-, and three-bedroom atop 8,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space.

Los Angeles County has already moved to allocate $2 million in funding to the project via its affordable housing trust fund, contributing to a total estimatedcost of approximately $53.8 million - a per-unit cost of approximately $746,000.  A staff report from the Housing and Community Investment Department attributes the relatively high price tag of La Veranda to the inclusion of on-site parking, larger unit sizes, and the necessity of building two separate structures due to an alley bisecting the site.