Rendering vs. Reality: Florence Mills Apartments in Historic South-Central

In Historic South-Central, construction is complete for the Florence Mills Apartments, $40-million permanent supportive housing development from Hollywood Community Housing Corp.

Rendered view of the Florence Mills developmentKFA Architecture

The project, located at the southwest corner of Jefferson Boulevard and Central Avenue, is a mixed-use building consisting of 74 apartments on its upper floors at 5,000 square feet of commercial space at street level.

The four-story building, designed to achieve LEED Platinum certification by KFA Architecture, is named in honor of Black vaudeville performer Florence Mills, who once performed at a theater located at the project site during the 1920s. The contemporary low-rise structure includes two large murals, created by local artist Myisha Arellano, which depicts the project's namesake.

The project, which is located at an intersection that some consider the gateway to South Central, is also neighbored by another Hollywood Community Housing Project - the Paul R. Williams apartments, which repurposed the historic Angeles Funeral Home a separate multifamily housing complex.

Ground-level viewJim Simmons Photography

The apartments at the Florence Mills development come in a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom floor plans, each including a balcony. Common amenities within the apartment complex include a community room, laundry facilities, and basement parking. The project is reserved entirely for low-, very low-, and extremely low-income households, with rents set between $507 and $1,171 per month.

At street level, the building's 5,000 square feet of commercial space has already secured a tenant: the Young Musicians Foundation, which will provide free courses to residents of the Florence Mills and Paul R. Williams Apartments. The space is flanked by a landscaped plaza which extends out toward Jefferson Boulevard.

3501 S. Central AvenueGoogle Maps

In addition to Florence Mills, Hollywood Community Housing's other ongoing projects include new apartment buildings planned or under construction in Venice, Harvard Heights, Walnut Park, and North Hills.