> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # OCEAN PARK To boost the number of affordable housing opportunities available to residents - URL: https://www.smdp.com/a-boost-for-affordable-housing-department-of-housing-and-community-development-doles-out-funds-to-regional-agencies/ - Published: 2008-02-28T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-24T23:27:35.000Z - Author: Guest Author - Tags: Real Estate & Housing, Ocean Park, #archive-import *State awards funds to regional agencies* *By CHIARA CANZI Special to the Daily Press* OCEAN PARK To boost the number of affordable housing opportunities available to residents throughout Southern California, state officials held a ceremony at Community Corporation of Santa Monica’s Pacific Court to award various agencies with funds made available through a pair of voter approved propositions. The state’s Department of Housing and Community Development handed out nearly $66 million in Proposition 1C and Proposition 46 housing bond funding to agencies in Los Angeles, San Diego and the Inland Empire. The awards were part of the $142 million housing bond fund made available by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger earlier this month. The money is earmarked to develop apartment complexes for low-income families. Among the programs receiving funds was San Pedro’s New Economics for Women, which was awarded close to $4 million. Project Manager Cheryl Bates was ecstatic. “Our mission is to have a nice, safe and clean environment for all women that need help,” she said. “This money will help the neighborhood, and help avoid gentrification in the area.” A 49-unit complex will be built next door to an existing government funded housing development. The West Hollywood Community Housing Corporation was awarded $3.7 million for a 42-multifamily complex. The biggest award was given to Downtown Women’s Center with $7.9 million for a 72-unit green project. The Little Tokyo Service Center Community Development Corporation received a modest $1.3 million. The funds will help 642 California families and individuals realize the dream of an affordable rental home according to a statement released by the Department of Housing and Community Development. HCD Director Lynn L. Jacobs said that these awards will help local communities create financial independence by providing affordable housing for workers who chose to live and work in the community. “We are making great progress in California by working with non-profits to ensure that there are more affordable housing complexes,” she added. Prop 1C is the $2.85 billion housing bond passed by a majority vote in November 2006 as part of the Governor’s Strategic Growth Plan. The purpose of the proposition was to provide shelter for battered women and their children, and safe Chiara Canzi BIG CHECKS: The state’s Department of Housing and Community Development held a ceremony at Community Corporation of Santa Monica’s Pacific Court to award various agencies with funds made available through a pair of voter approved propositions on Wednesday. and clean housing for seniors and low-income families. As part of the Housing and Emergency Shelter Trust Fund Act of 2002, Prop 46, passed by voters in 2002, enabled the state to create a $2.1 billion trust fund for projects like Pacific Court. According to reports issued by the HCD, both propositions will create 5,300 jobs with more than $244 million in revenue to strenghten California’s economy. “Thanks to both propositions we have funded a variety of projects, including Pacific Court,” Jabocs said. The 44-unit complex was awarded $2.4 million and was completed four months ago. Owned by CCSM, the largest non-profit landlord in Santa Monica, Pacific Court is a pristine example of what affordable housing should look like. “This complex is in wonderful conditions and it is in much better shape than a lot of other ones,” Jacobs said. With a Boys and Girls Club facility, ramps that give disabled residents the opportunity to access every part of the facility, Pacific Court is an improvement compared to older government funded projects. “The Governor said that actions speak louder than words, but I think that structures speak louder than actions,” said Councilmember Kevin McKeown. “This event is the acknowlegment by the state that Santa Monica is the leader in affordable housing.” A renter himself, McKeown has experienced first hand the challenges that low-income residents face with the absence of rent control. “It’s a struggle to make it for them and we need to have a stable community to go forward,” he added. On behalf of the state, the HCD physically inspects all properties every six months and requires that all financial statements of the non-profits that own them are made public. “We want to make sure they have enough revenue to maintain the property and that are able to keep rent slow for the agreed time,” Jabocs said. For Pacific Court, the agreed time is 55 years, during which the rent is controlled to accomodate low-income families that live and work in Santa Monica. The city has close to 50,000 livable units of which 70 percent are rentals. “It is because of the erosion of rent control that the prices keep going up, and it has become a challenge for a lot of residents,” said CCSM’s Executive Director Joan Ling. “We live in a high cost area for housing with the average unit cost amounts to $884,000.” The high cost of real estate has driven Santa Monica residents away from their communities, but Ling believes gentrifica-tion has played a big role, too. “It it has displaced people who grew up in the area or that have businesses,” she said. *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 28, 2008.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/022808.pdf?ref=smdp.com)