What to do about affordable housing?
By Steve
Clare
In Venice, where last
year’s median home price was $465,000, the opportunities to create
affordable housing are next to nonexistent. And numerous forces cause us to
lose affordable housing every day.
A weak rent control law allows landlords to raise
below market rents at will. Affordability restrictions imposed by HUD have been
removed on 59 apartments at 5 Rose Avenue and 50 senior apartments at 1 Venice
Boulevard. Safe and habitable garage apartments and bootleg units have been
closed down by the City’s new systematic code enforcement program (SCEP).
Plus, the demolition of Lincoln Place Apartments is in limbo. And as we all
know, “market rents” in Venice are affordable to fewer and fewer
members of our community. But there is
hope.
Venice has its own nonprofit
community development corporation--a resource that develops and manages
affordable housing. Venice Community Housing Corporation (VCHC), the first and
only nonprofit developer of affordable housing in Venice and Mar Vista, provides
rents starting at $258 for 1 bedroom apartments for qualified households, in
addition to other community development resources, such as a job training
program for at-risk youth, childcare for infants and toddlers, and an arts
training program for young people.
It
is impossible for any housing developer to purchase and develop affordable
housing on land in Venice that costs between $75-$150/ square foot. Even using
land costing $30/square foot (e.g. in Central and East Los Angeles) the
development cost requires charging rents in excess of $1000/month for a
two-bedroom apartment. The only way that housing affordable to working families
earning between 35% and 80% of the median income can be developed in Venice is
to build on city owned property. And that’s exactly what VCHC tries to
do.
On August 16th, Venetians will
have a chance to show their support for affordable housing by attending a
hearing for a zone change affecting a portion of Abbot Kinney Boulevard between
Palms and Venice Boulevards, and a narrow strip of city-owned land behind Abbot
Kinney. If approved, zoning would change from limited industrial (M-1) to
commercial (C-2), which permits residential development.
A
confusing notice of public hearing has caused consternation among Venice
residents, but these are the facts:
Two separate requests for zone change
from M-1 to C-2 will be heard.
The
first is presented by D.S. Ventures (“Ventures”), a for-profit real
estate developer, to enable them to build a 25-unit apartment building,
including 2 “affordable” units on the vacant lot on the northeast
corner of Abbot Kinney and Venice Blvd. Ventures’ application includes
various exceptions to the Venice Specific Plan, including a height variance from
34 to 42 feet.
The second request is
submitted by the City of Los Angeles on behalf of Venice Community Housing
Corporation (VCHC) affecting a narrow strip of vacant land, formerly the Pacific
Electric Rail Road Right of Way (RRROW). The Notice states that the project
envisioned by VCHC is a “26-unit, four story, 45 feet in height low income
housing development” but there is no request pending and no approval
sought for that development or any VCHC development at this time.
VCHC and Ventures are not related in
any way, and the two applications are separate requests for the same things
submitted by two different parties.
The Venice Specific Plan currently
designates all property fronting both sides of Abbot Kinney between Main Street
and Venice Blvd as
C-2 except the
portion between Palms Blvd. and Venice Blvd on the east side only.
The zone change will make the land use
of these two sites consistent with both sides of Abbot Kinney between Main and
Venice, which are zoned C-2.
Approving
the zone change accomplishes several things:
1) it is the first step in creating an
affordable housing development on the RRROW,
2) it permits mixed use
commercial/residential on Abbot Kinney, and
3) it prevents potentially
inappropriate manufacturing and industrial uses that might negatively impact
commercial development in the
area.
VCHC has not undertaken any
design of the site, but its goal is to build as much affordable housing as the
site will allow and the community will support. Prior experience anticipates
that 30-40 apartments would need to be built in order to make the project
financially feasible.
VCHC is
committed to developing a project that will bring more affordable housing to our
community and at the same time address other important community issues
including sustainable development and energy conservation, additional parking
for the public, aesthetic and design issues relating to neighbors’
concerns about light and shadow and the potential obstruction of sea breezes.
VCHC is at the beginning of this design process, and will share its design
proposals with community members once they get developed. And, VCHC will
solicit input and feedback from Venice residents about our
plans.
VCHC needs your help to ensure
that the Planning Department grants the request of the City for a zone change
from M-1 to C-2, at least on the RRROW and does not impose any other conditions
on the RRROW site that would foreclose or make more difficult the development of
a project.
Steve Clare is
executive director of the Venice Community Housing Corporation.
Posted: Thu - August 1, 2002 at 05:40 PM