Mixed-income apartment building on the rise in Westmont

In the unincorporated community of Westmont, prolific Los Angeles-based real estate development firm SoLa Impact has commenced work on its latest mixed-income apartment complex.

Rebar cages and cement are now rising at the southwest corner of 110th Street and Vermont Avenue, where SoLa has secured approvals for a new five-story apartment building. The completed low-rise structure will include 84 one-bedroom dwellings - including 21 units of permanent supportive and deed-restricted affordable housing.

The Architects Collective is designing the project, named SoLa Vermont, which will be composed of prefabricated modular units constructed elsewhere and assembled on-site. The L-shaped building will feature a lobby, a community room, a laundry facility, and social services offices on its ground floor. A small parking lot is planned at the rear of the property.

"A series of five-foot wide light wells accords a uniform rhythm to the building façade as the light slot created by the living room window is mirrored with the adjacent unit and stacked." reads a project description from The Architects Collective website.  A significant design innovation is the use of light-gauge steel framing for modular construction, which offers greater longevity and ease of installation relative to typical wood-frame modules."

A representative of SoLa Impact previously indicated that completion of the Vermont Avenue development is expected in 2023.

SoLa Impact, which founded in 2015, is developing numerous affordable and mixed-income housing in South Los Angeles and San Pedro.  The company's real estate portfolio totals more than 1,500 affordable units.

The developer is also working with The Architects Collective on plans for a similar mixed-income development near the Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw Plaza shopping mall on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

• Westmont (Urbanize LA)