First look at for-rent townhouses that will rise near USC

A hearing clinic about a mile north of the University of Southern California has sold to Champion Development, which is planning to build a 99-unit townhouse project on the 2.75-acre site.

The John Tracy Clinic in University Park sold for $26 million, and Champion expects to start construction on the first phase of the development in 2019, with the second and final wave of construction coming in 2020.

Townhouses in the project will average five bedrooms and will each have a rooftop deck. There will be an affordable housing component to the project, but it is unclear how many units will make up that part of the development.

Champion expects that demand for the rental project will come largely from USC faculty and employees. The developer expects the project to start on the first phase of development in 2019,

The area around USC has numerous changes on its horizon. Just across the street from campus, the Banc of California professional soccer stadium opened just last month, and the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is scheduled to open in 2021.

Also, a proposed hotel and student housing project that would replace rent-controlled units is planned across from Exposition Park. The project, which is seeking financial assistance from the city, is opposed by pushed-out tenants and a coalition of activists who say that it is counterproductive to demolish rent-controlled units in the midst of an affordable housing crisis.

The clinic, which provides services to children with hearing loss and their parents, is planning to stay in the community, but will move to “a newer, better equipped facility.” It will continue to lease the property from Champion while the townhouse project goes through the approvals process.