Seattle-based developer Housing Diversity Corporation (HDC) has secured entitlements for a micro-unit apartment building in Downtown Los Angeles, the company announced this week.

The project, slated to replace a small commercial building at 1317 S. Grand Avenue, would consist of 151 micro-unit apartments averaging 325 square feet in size and no on-site parking.  The development is intended to offer rents considered affordable to moderate-income households earning between 80 and 120 percent of the area median income.

"Bringing our attainable, livable micro-apartments to Los Angeles is extremely gratifying," said Housing Diversity Corporation CEO and Founder Brad Padden in a news release.  "Our goal is to create housing abundance in places with a severe constraint on supply."

The Downtown project was entitled using the City's Transit Oriented Communities guidelines, which permit projects with on-site affordable housing near transit to exceed certain zoning limits.  In exchange for the incentives, HDC would set aside 17 apartments as deed-restricted extremely low-income housing for a period of 55 years.

Steinberg Hart is designing the proposed development, which is depicted in renderings as a modern eight-story structure lined with balconies.  Proposed open spaces include a rooftop deck and a ground-floor work area for residents.

The apartment complex, which is located in a Federal Opportunity Zone, is being developed through OZ Navigator - a joint venture between HDC and Nitze-Stagen.

STS Construction and Development Services is serving as the project's general contractor.  Site preparation is currently expected to commence in November, and completion is anticipated in May 2022.

The Downtown development is HDC's second Los Angeles-area project, following an eight-story, 69-unit micro-unit complex which broke ground earlier this year in Hollywood.