Prefab affordable housing project planned for Westlake

A major new affordable housing complex may be on the way to Alvarado Street in Westlake, with the assistance of a bit of state funding.

A recent motion from Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell (spotted by Urbanize LA) calls upon the city to request a $20 million bond from the California Public Finance Authority to help pay for the project, which would include 90 units of housing developed from prefabricated materials assembled on-site.

Proposed by Orange County-based nonprofit Foundation for Affordable Housing, the project would be located at 166 South Alvarado Street, just south of Beverly Boulevard.

That address is currently home to a 1940s-era commercial building that has in recent years served as a medical office. It’s not clear whether the structure, constructed in an elegant Streamline Moderne style, would be razed to make way for the new development, but the building has previously been identified as a historic resource by the city’s Office of Historic Resources.

According to O’Farrell’s motion, the land has already been purchased by an organization associated with Foundation for Affordable Housing. The project would be divided up between “open plan” studios and one-bedroom units for tenants making under 80 percent of LA’s median income.

• Low-income requirements for Los Angeles updated for 2017 [Curbed LA]
• Handsome Supportive Housing Opens in Westlake [Curbed LA]
• $65M state grant will fund hundreds of affordable housing units across LA [Curbed LA]