Construction kicks off for affordable housing at 8727 S Broadway

An affordable housing development nearly one decade has commenced work following a groundbreaking ceremony held on September 1, reports LAist.

The Manchester Urban Homes, a joint venture from Abode Communities and Neighborhood Housing Services of L.A. County, is planned for a long-vacant property located at 8727 S. Broadway. The project, which will span across 2.7 acres at the northwest corner of 88th Street and Broadway, calls for the construction of 122 homes, including a 76-unit apartment building fronting Broadway and 46 townhomes at the rear of the site to the west.

Rendering of the Manchester Urban Homes looking northwest from 88th and BroadwayJohn V. Mutlow Architects

Plans call for mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom dwellings, ranging from 633 to 1,176 square feet in size. The homes would be earmarked for renters earning up to 60 percent of the Los Angeles area median income. Rents are expected to range from $672 for a one-bedroom up to $1,908 for a three-bedroom, reports LAist.

John V. Mutlow Architects, Inc. is designing Manchester Urban Homes, which is portrayed in renderings with a four-story structure facing Broadway and a series of townhomes located in eight two-story buildings to the west.

The deed for the large, dusty lot near the intersection of South Broadway and W. 87th Place came with a racially restrictive covenant. The clause — written in 1906 but made illegal under a 1948 U.S. Supreme Court decision banning racial covenants — states the property “shall not be rented, sold or conveyed or occupied by any person of the African or the Mongolian race.”

8721-8765 S.Broadway, 315-331 W 88th Street and 320-330 W 87th StreetGoogle Maps

The project site, previously developed with a church, was the subject of a racially restrictive covenant dating to 1906, which stated that the property “shall not be rented, sold or conveyed or occupied by any person of the African or the Mongolian race.” Such restrictions were made illegal through Supreme Court case in 1948, per LAist.

The roughly $84-million development is relying on a variety of funding sources, most recently a $7-million infusion of money provided by the City of Los Angeles in March 2023. Prior to that, supply chain disruptions and rising interest rates had threatened to delay the project.

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