Boyle Heights affordable housing complex nearly set to rise on Metro-owned land

A long-vacant lot in Boyle Heights is well on its way to redevelopment as an affordable housing complex from developer Abode Communities.

Metro, which owns the land the project would be built on, is formalizing a lease with the developer, and the agency’s board of directors will vote on whether to approve it Thursday. The Los Angeles City Planning Commission also signed off on the project earlier this month.

New renderings of the project, called La Veranda, offer a look at what it would look like. Consisting of two separate four-story buildings, it’s set to include 77 apartments and 8,000 square feet of commercial space. All but one of the residential units in the project would be set aside for low-income tenants, with the last reserved as a manager’s unit.

The complex, which would be located at the corner of Cesar E. Chavez Avenue and Matthews Street, would also include 40 parking spaces and residential amenities like a community room, laundry facilities, common courtyard spaces, and a children’s play area.

The Source notes that Metro acquired the land that the project would be constructed on in the 1990s, when a subway extension from Downtown into Boyle Heights was still in the works. The agency eventually scrapped plans for that project, bringing the Gold Line into the neighborhood instead.

• 76 affordable apartments planned for Boyle Heights [Curbed LA]
• Housing developers eyeing Boyle Heights lot across from Mariachi Plaza [Curbed LA]
• Metro considering new development plan for Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights [Curbed LA]