> ## 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. # Affordable housing may be thing of the past - URL: https://www.smdp.com/affordable-housing-may-be-thing-of-the-past/ - Published: 2002-03-15T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T00:08:38.000Z - Author: Andrew Fixmer - Tags: Real Estate & Housing, Santa Monica, #archive-import *‘Critical need’ for affordable housing* Within the next five to six years, rent control in Santa Monica may be a thing of the past, a city official said recently. That possibility has left city officials scrambling to build as much affordable housing as possible before the cost of land and rents soars out of reach. “Whatever is done on the affordable housing end now will only stem the tide a little bit,” said Bob Moncrief, the city housing manager. “But it can’t make up what we’re losing through vacancy decontrol every year.” Last year the city council named building more affordable housing as one of the city’s top five priorities. Council members have asked senior city staff members to dedicate more time and resources to tracking down funding resources for it. “Economic diversity and multi-cultural richness are what make us Santa Monica, not Beverly Hills by-the-sea,” said Councilman Kevin McKeown. “Without affordable housing, Santa Monica will have no room for fixed-income seniors, for kids with single parents, or for the service workers who help our economy thrive.” During the past three years the city has spent $40 million building more affordable housing. The money has come from grants from the county, state and federal government, non-profit groups, developer fees and from local taxes revenue. The city also runs a federally-funded program that gives vouchers to low-wage workers that help pay the difference between the rent they can afford and the going market rate. However, even with all the city’s efforts, Santa Monica is becoming a less and less affordable place for people to live. Current rents tend to be nearly 75 percent more than the rent-controlled rates, a recent city report found. When a new affordable senior housing complex opened on Fourth Street last month, there were more than 3,000 applications for the building’s 66-apartments, Moncrief said. “There are far fewer affordable units because of rent-decontrol,” Moncrief said. “So when affordable units become available there is tremendous demand that far, far outstrips supply.” Which means providers of affordable housing in Santa Monica are inundated with qualified applicants. Community Corporation of Santa Monica, the largest provider of affordable housing in the city, maintains a waiting list of 3,200 households for only 150 possible openings this year. The non-profit organization is currently building three new apartment complexes in the Ocean Park, Midcity and Sunset Park neighborhoods and rehabilitating another 10 buildings throughout the city. While the rehabilitated units will become available within the year, the new buildings probably won’t be completed for another three to four years. “But even by fixing up those buildings that we bought, most of them are already occupied,” said Joan Ling, executive director of Community Corporation. “Unfortunately, its not going to help very much in creating new housing.” At Community Corporation, over one-third of their applicants for affordable housing either already live or work in Santa Monica. But if the organization accepts state or federal funds for a particular project, they cannot give priority to residents. “There is a critical need out there, as evidenced by the high number of these applications, and the supply is just paltry,” Ling said. “It seems we need to try a lot harder to deliver the housing that’s needed.” 0 1 DCF 1 00050000000B00000002 0 1 DCF 0 *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 15, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/031502.pdf?ref=smdp.com)