Community Corp. apartments near completion along Santa Monica border
CENTINELA AVENUE A new chapter of affordable living soon begins in an otherwise unaffordable area for three dozen low-income families.
Community Corporation of Santa Monica, one of the largest local builders of affordable housing, is putting the finishing touches on a new apartment complex on the city’s eastern border.
The latest in a series of projects to have opened in the past year by the nonprofit organization, the development is comprised of six different, three-story buildings that each have a half dozen apartments, consisting altogether a mix of two and three-bedroom units.
The project, located on the 2400 block of Centinela Avenue, was built on a consolidated parcel that once held an 11-unit apartment building and a 1930s era motel that was later converted into rental housing, including — illegally — several of the carports. The development is called Tahiti, which was the name of the apartment it replaced.
CCSM purchased the two lots in the ear-lier part of the decade with the hopes of rehabilitating both properties, eventually opting for reconstruction after concluding it would be more cost efficient.
“Because of the changes in insurance requirements and the requirements on how to bring it up to code, we decided to change course,” Joan Ling, the executive director of the nonprofit, said.
The project, which broke ground 20 months ago, cost approximately $14.6 million, roughly $5.5 million of which came from City Hall.
The building is expected to be ready for move-in by the end of the month. CCSM is currently in the process of selecting tenants, who will pay anywhere from $600-$1,000 for the two bedrooms and $700 to $1,100 for the three bedrooms.
Kevin Daly of Daly Genik Architects designed the apartments in his first project with Community Corp., deciding to split the development into several buildings in order to break up the scale.
Daly said zoning regulations in many cases lead projects to take the often-seen horseshoe shape in which the building wraps around a courtyard.
“We kind of felt that sort of space was something that is visible to everyone but available to nobody,” he said.
Instead the architect decided to use smaller buildings to create more intimately-sized spaces.
The 30,000 square feet development was designed with sustainability in mind, using low-VOC paint, and a rainwater capture feature. While CCSM will not apply for certification under Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, which is the designation for “green” developments, the project would be at the level of LEED Silver, Ling said.
Breaking up the project into six buildings also allowed them to maximize natural sunlight.
CCSM is currently in talks with the Boys & Girls Club to operate an afterschool program at the site, similar to its apartment complex on Main and Pacific streets, which opened last year. The apartment will also have an on-site resident services coordina-tor, acting in a counselor-like capacity, advising on how to apply for low-income tax credit and even suggesting different computer or parenting classes in the community.
The developer currently owns 80 properties in the city altogether. About six buildings that CCSM hopes to rehabilitate are currently in escrow.
Ling said these projects allow low-income families to remain in their community, pointing out that approximately half of their tenants live in the city.
“Housing is such a large part of any family’s budget and to have stable affordable housing means a great deal in terms of quality of life for the entire family,” she said.
Residents near the project say they welcome an affordable addition.
“It shouldn’t just be rich people who live in Santa Monica,”Mews Small, who has lived in her house for 10 years, said. “You need a diverse society.
“They deserve a decent place to live at a fair price.”
Affordable housing projects have traditionally been known to receive some resistance because of a belief that it will lower property values. Geoff Gurnee, who earlier this year moved into his house just around the corner from the project, said it doesn’t bother him.
“I’m indifferent,” he said. “As long as you don’t see the crime rise or shady people start to walk past the house.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 16, 2008. Read the original PDF.