Deal for Kessler property would include affordable units for seniors too
Families displaced 40 years ago by construction of the Santa Monica Freeway could be among those given first crack at a new affordable housing development if current plans are approved.
Currently, the Community Corporation of Santa Monica — an affordable housing developer — is in the process of buying a two-acre site in the Pico Neighborhood for about $4 million.
Known as the Kessler property, it is a two-acre triangular area defined by the Santa Monica Freeway to the north and High Place and Virginia Avenue on the south.
“Community activists have asked us to look at the possibility of helping minority families displaced when the freeway came in,” said Joan Ling, executive director of the Community Corporation of Santa Monica.
“Because when the freeway was built, it displaced thousands of people from the Pico Neighborhood.”
Plans for the property also likely will include housing for senior citizens, city officials said.
There are currently 25 rent-controlled units on the premises plus an additional two owner-occupied single-family homes.
The City of Santa Monica would fund the senior housing portion of the project, which would give priority to resident seniors. Federal and state funds would be used for the other half.
Formal plans outlining the project were expected to be filed yesterday afternoon.
A Community Corporation City officials said they believed giving displaced families a chance to return to Santa Monica is a laudable goal.
“That would address a remaining bitterness the community has looking back at the freeway construction, when so many people were dislocated when the freeway came through the heart of the community,” said Bob Moncrief, the city’s housing director.
Both Rev. Mike Gutierrez of St. Anne’s Catholic Church and Rev. Ron Williams of the First AME by the Sea have pledged to work with CCSM bringing those families back to the city.
“They would likely act as the conduit for that process,” Ling said. “These two people have a lot of access to both the history and the people who were part of the history of this neighborhood.”
Several of the buildings on the site have been identified by the city as worthy of local preservation, though the structures are not eligible for the national register of historic places.
Because CCSM plans to work mostly with the existing structures, Ling said she believes the designation will not interfere with the internal remodeling that will likely be done to the properties.
Ling said that CCSM has been negotiating on and off with the owners of the property for more than ten years, but neither side could reach an agreement.
“When we were approached to look at the property last week, it all happened very fast,” Ling said.
Moncrief said the city will read over the group’s application and then decide whether to underwrite it, like a commercial bank would.
“The city provides loans for just this purpose,” he said. “Typically city funds would be used for the acquisition and predevelopment costs.”
Since the loan would be for less then the $4.5 million benchmark that requires council approval, the loan could likely go through with the city manager’s approval. If the costs were higher and received council approval, the city manager could then be authorized to loan as much as $5.2 million.
Moncrief was optimistic about the project, but said he would reserve judgment until plans for the project were final.
“We have to see the numbers before we get too optimistic,” he said. “In concept it seems like a terrific response to what we have heard coming from the Pico Neighborhood residents for years.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 10, 2002. Read the original PDF.