Construction began yesterday for a $51.4-million senior affordable housing complex in Koreatown, a component of Los Angeles County's Vermont Corridor development.

The Vermont Corridor Apartments, located at 433 S. Vermont Avenue, are being developed by Meta Housing Corp. and Western Community Housing.  Plans call for a six-story building featuring 72 residential units - reserved for seniors earning between 25 and 60 percent of the area median income - with a 12,500-square-foot YMCA to be located at ground level.

According to a staff report to the Californai Tax Credit Allocation Committee, rents will range from as low as $545 per month for a one-bedroom unit to as much as $1,309 per month for a two-bedroom apartment.

“Affordable senior housing is extremely difficult to find in Los Angeles,” said Meta Housing President Kasey Burke in a statement. “Los Angeles needs more affordable alternatives for older residents, and we are delivering that alternative in this project. This is a great example of public-private partnership working together to improve the community and the lives of our future residents.”

“The Vermont Corridor Apartments project is a promise fulfilled,” said City of Los Angeles Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. “For Koreatown residents, it provides not only affordable homes to seniors who need it most, but also a long-awaited community center with a wellness center to be operated by the YMCA. Working with Meta Housing and Western Community Housing, as well as the City of Los Angeles and other partners, we have repurposed an aging Los Angeles County facility and transformed it into a beautiful new asset for the community. That’s public-private partnership at its best.”

The project, designed by Y&M Architects, will include open spaces such as community rooms and courtyards.

Completion is anticipated in March 2021.

The senior housing is the second phase of the larger Vermont Corridor project, which began last year with the construction of a 20-story office tower that will serve as the new headquarters of the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health.  The offices and affordable housing will be followed by the adaptive reuse of an existing County office building at the corner of Vermont and 6th Street.

Interested in finding affordable housing? Visit housing.lacity.org.