SoLa Impact, a South Los Angeles-based developer that parlayed opportunity zone investment funds to a robust pipeline of affordable housing developments, has set its sights on the unincorporated community of Westmont.
View from southern property line looking northeastThe Architects Collective
Earlier this summer, the developer razed a series of small commercial buildings at 11001 S. Vermont Avenue, clearing the way for the construction of a new five-story apartment building. The new project would include 84 one-bedroom dwellings - including 21 units of permanent supportive and deed-restricted affordable housing.
The Architects Collective is designing the project, which would be composed of prefabricated modular units. In addition to new housing, the L-shaped building would also include a lobby, a community room, a laundry facility, and social services offices on its ground floor, with a parking lot accessible from a rear alley.
"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."
The project is expected to begin construction in late 2021 and open by early 2023, according to a representative of the developer.
View from Vermont Avenue looking northwestThe Architects Collective
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)
Looking for affordable housing? Visit lahousing.lacity.org/aahr
