A state-owned property in Montebello that has served as a recruiting center for the California Army National Guard will be converted into affordable and supportive housing, according to a notice issued late last month by the State Department of General Services.
The property, located at 244 George Hensel Drive, occupies a corner lot across the street from Montebello City Park and along the north side of Olympic Boulevard. Holos Communities, the developer leading the adaptive reuse project, intends to convert the existing two-story structure into 57 units of affordable and permanent supportive housing, as well as various on-site amenities.
The Army National Guard site was the subject of a 2021 request for proposals seeking development options seeking an applicant who would build affordable housing. Likewise, the property was designated as a housing inventory site in Montebello's Housing Element.
244 George Hensel DriveGoogle Maps
The proposed project moves forward at a time when homelessness has spiked in Los Angeles County. This January 2023 homeless count found that 75,518 people either living interim housing, a tent, a car, a van, an RV, or makeshift shelter in Los Angeles County - up roughly nine percent from the 69,144 people counted in 2022.
Montebello has already started work on at least one other project aimed toward bringing some of those people indoors - a 63-unit development which broke ground last month on a site just south of Whittier Boulevard.
Holos Communities, besides its relatively modest adaptive reuse project in Montebello, is building several larger affordable housing projects across the region. That includes new apartment buildings in South Los Angeles and Panorama City, as well as a potential 15-story tower in Long Beach.
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Looking for affordable housing? Visit lahousing.lacity.org/aahr and housing.lacounty.gov
