Trying to do its part in fighting Los Angeles's crippling housing crisis, Metro is taking steps toward ensuring that at least 35 percent of new units built on Metro-owned land around rail stations is set aside for affordable housing. A recently completed study commissioned by the agency highlights the need for a move like this, says Streetsblog, pointing out that the rise in rents near public transit, plus dramatic decreases in state and federal funds for affordable housing, could displace the very people who already rely on transit and end up making them more dependent on cars. To prep for the creation of all that new affordable housing, the study assessed 19 Metro-owned sites and singled out 10 that were the best candidates for housing redevelopment.
Topping off the list with some of the highest "suitability" scores are the Sepulveda Park-and-Ride lot and three Boyle Heights sites, including Mariachi Plaza, which had been the location of a controversial office/retail complex (the now dead plan did not include housing). The giant North Hollywood parking lot, it seems, is also a solid choice for a new mixed-use residential development, though the study does note that Metro would have to put in some replacement parking.
Just because these sites are plotted on a map, doesn't mean they're necessarily going to be developed any time soon though. Metro approved a motion to keep working on the nuts and bolts of funding these future projects, and to further explore other ideas considered in the study, such as offering developers discounts on Metro-owned land as a way to hedge the cost of including affordable units in new projects and getting together a fund to help nonprofit developers either build or maintain privately-owned affordable housing that's close to transit.
· Metro Takes Another Step Forward in Effort to Build and Preserve Affordable Housing at Transit Hubs [SBLA]
·: The Cheapest and Most Expensive Places to Rent Along LA's Future Rail Lines [Curbed LA]
· LA's Scary Shortage of Affordable Housing, By the Numbers [Curbed LA]
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