La Brea and Ninth Street property under consideration
By Dolores Quintana
LA City Councilmember Paul Koretz, of the City’s Fifth District, has submitted a motion in the last week to consider buying the city funds a mixed use development that is currently under construction at 850 S. La Brea Avenue, which is at the corner of La Brea and Ninth Street as reported by Urbanize Los Angeles.
Councilmember Koretz proposed this development as a future purchase for Project Homekey’s third round of acquisitions for affordable housing for his district. Koretz wrote in his proposal, as quoted by Urbanize Los Angeles, “The site…has 53 units and the potential to house 50 to 100 of our most vulnerable Angelenos. Council should explore the potential of converting this property into a Homekey site to serve those in our communities who are most in need of housing and services.”
The Council’s Housing Committee will now consider the motion and the motion directs the City Administrative Officer and Chief Legislative Analyst to find funding and begin negotiations with the property’s owners and developers to acquire the building.
Project Homekey’s second round of purchases has netted the City 1,276 affordable housing units, both interim and permanent units, at costs that are less than $400,000 per unit which is much lower than the going rates for building these kinds of units through other city programs. The first round acquired a total of 15 properties and 744 units of affordable and supportive housing.
