A colorful building near the Glendale commuter rail station is the latest Los Angeles area apartment complex to be converted to "missing middle" housing through a new state program.

Standard Communities, a real estate firm based out of New York and Los Angeles, is leading a new public-private partnership in the acquisition of The Link, a mixed-use building with 143 one- and two-bedroom apartments above ground-floor commercial space at 3909 San Fernando Road.  The project, which broke ground in 2017, was completed last year.

Using tax-exempt bond financing, rents for the property will immediately be lowered for all new residents with incomes between 80 and 120 percent of the area median income.  In Los Angeles County, that corresponds to incomes between approximately $67,000 per year for an individual and $96,000 for a four-person household.

3909 San Fernando RoadGoogle Maps

Standard Communities' purchase of The Link was made in partnership with the California Statewide Communities Development Authority (CSCDA) and the City of Glendale, as well as investment bank Stifel Nicolaus & Company and real estate firm Faring.

The CSCDA, the statewide entity which enabled the acquisition of The Link, is a joint powers authority that provides bond financing for over 500 cities and counties around the state, according to KCRW.  Its Workforce Housing Program allows the acquisition of market-rate developments using bonds that are later purchase by investors, who are repaid through rental interest.

Other buildings converted through the program include the Altana development in Downtown Glendale and the Oceanaire apartments in Downtown Long Beach.  CSCDA has also enabled the conversion of 500 apartments into middle-income housing.