By the end of this month, the City of Los Angeles is scheduled to request the release of $5.96 million in federal funding for a proposed affordable housing development in the Mid-City area.  

The Washington Arts Collective, which is being developed by Meta Housing Corp., would replace two city-owned parking lots at 4600 and 4601 W. Washington Boulevard with two four-story buildings containing 56 apartments - including 20 units for formerly homeless families and individuals and 35 units for low-income families, inclusive of artist households.

The smaller of the two buildings, slated for 4600 Washington, would feature 23 one-bedroom apartments with a ground-floor art gallery and 16 at-grade parking spaces.  Plans also call for a courtyard, a community room, and a laundry facility.

The larger building, planned at 4601 Washington, would offer 33 one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments, in addition to ground-floor gallery and rehearsal space.  Ancillary features would include a second-level courtyard, a meeting room, a children's lot, a music room, laundry facilities, and parking for 74 vehicles.

The Washington Arts Collection grew out of a motion introduced in July 2016 by City Council President Herb Wesson, who represents to the Mid-City neighborhood.  In the motion, he cited a private entity that had expressed interest in developing the 4600 and 4601 Washington parking lots, as well as support from the Mid-City Neighborhood Council for a mixed-use project on both sites.

Meta Housing Corp. has developed several projects catering to lower-income artists in the Los Angeles area, including a three-story, 46-unit complex now under construction in Carson.

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