Across the street from Woodlawn Cemetery in Santa Monica's Pico neighborhood, the finish line is in sight for a mixed-use affordable housing development from Community Corp. of Santa Monica.
View from across 14th StreetDE Architects
The Las Flores apartments, located at 1834-1848 14th Street, is composed of a four-story building that will feature 73 apartments above 3,500 square feet of ground-floor retail space at completion. Parking for residents and commercial users is located in a below-grade garage.
The new apartments, which come in a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom layouts, are reserved for renter households earning 80 percent or less than the area median income.
DE Architects designed the building, which features a series of offset cubic masses that were described in a staff report to the Santa Monica Architectural Review as "a concept of solids and voids." Corrugated metal panels are the primary exterior finish of the apartment complex.
View looking northwestDE Architects
At the time of the project's groundbreaking, general contractor R.D. Olson Construction estimated that Las Flores would open by Fall 2022.
In planning the Las Flores development, Community Corp. was the beneficiary of the state bill AB 1763, which relaxed zoning restrictions regarding height, density, and paring for qualified affordable housing developments. Prior to the enaction of the law, the project was envisioned as a smaller three-story, 55-unit apartment building.
Community Corp., which is based out of Santa Monica, recently built at a senior affordable housing complex a short distance north on 14th Street, and is also in construction at a third project at a nearby site on Pico Boulevard.
1834-1848 14th StreetGoogle Maps
Another non-profit developer, EAH Housing, broke ground this year on a fourth affordable housing complex one block north at the former site of Santa Monica Nikkei Hall.
- Las Flores Apartments (Urbanize LA)
Looking for affordable housing? Visit lahousing.lacity.org/aahr and housing.lacounty.gov
