Publicly-owned sites in Cudahy primed for redevelopment

A collection of vacant county- and city-owned buildings in Cudahy could make way for multifamily housing and community-serving uses, under an arrangement approved yesterday by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

Earlier in September, the City of Cudahy signed off on the demolition of a collection of city-owned properties at 4718-4722 and 4734 Santa Ana Street and 4613 Santa Clara Street, citing unsafe conditions.  The properties sit directly east of another publicly-owned site - a vacant building at 8130 South Atlantic Avenue that was previously occupied by the County's Department of Public Social Services (DPSS).

The County, which has determined that rehabilitating the DPSS facility to be cost prohibitive, is now seeking to package the property with the soon-to-be vacant city lots to create a contiguous site suitable for the construction of affordable housing, as well as other economic development opportunities and community-serving uses.

A staff briefing to the Board of Supervisors, citing a report by the SELA Collaborative, notes that 46 percent of Cudahy households are renters, with approximately 47 percent of households containing three or more adults.  The report states that disinvestment in Southeast Los Angeles County and discriminatory practices such has redlinining have contributed to this phenomenon.

The vote by the Board of Supervisors authorizes predevelopment activities for the site, including an environmental assessment and design work, which would be funded by $4 million reallocated from the Music Center annex building project.