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# Homeownership about to become affordable
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/homeownership-about-to-become-affordable/
- Published: 2008-07-31T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T20:24:47.000Z
- Author: Melody Hanatani
- Tags: Real Estate & Housing, Pico, #archive-import

*Community Corp. project would price condos at a quarter-million*

PICO NEIGHBORHOOD Owning a home in a city that boasts million dollar houses and condominiums is about to become a lot more feasible to the five-figure income population.

Community Corp. of Santa Monica, the largest producer of affordable living in the city, is currently planning a development that will give moderate-to-low income families the opportunity to go from renter to owner.

The project, the first of its kind by CCSM, will be situated at 1943-59 High Place, a small nook in the Pico Neighborhood, the property hosting a collection of single-family homes and duplexes, some of which are still occupied by tenants.

CCSM plans to hire a relocation consultant who will help the residents secure another place to live, the non-profit paying the difference between the tenant’s future rent and their current lease. Others might qualify for CCSM housing elsewhere in the city.

The scattering of homes will be demolished and replaced with a three-story development that will include 45 three-bedroom units, all of which will be made available for qualifying moderate income families who can secure a bank loan.

Moderate income is defined as $72,000 a year for a family of four or $57,000 for two people.

The non-profit builder has owned the site since 2002.

Preference will be given to Santa Monica residents and full-time workers in the city.

The condos will be priced at $225,000 each, which is one-third of the market-rate equivalent.

“I think we’re providing a product that many residents and workers would want,”

Joan Ling, the executive director of CCSM, said.

Community Corp. previously toyed with the idea of building a limited equity cooperative during the late 1980s, the last time it considered a development in which families would have the opportunity to be an owner. Financing difficulties for individuals to receive a co-op mortgage made the project unfeasible.

“The way we structured High Place is more consistent with how real estate is sold and owned in Southern California,” Ling said.

The homeownership project was a request that came out of the Pico Neighborhood Association, which expressed a strong desire for affordable buying opportunities, particularly in the eastern part of the city, according to Barbara Collins, the housing manager with City Hall.

But Wes Thompson, one of the board members with the PNA, said the pricing might still be too steep for many of the residents in the neighborhood, which has the largest percentage of low-income families in the city.

“We’re hanging by our teeth just renting,” Thompson said. “I think it will be difficult to even qualify to participate.”

The estimated $24 million condo project will be financed using a mix of local, state and federal money. City Hall is expected to contribute about $14.5 million.

“It’ll help first-time homeowners and will stay affordable for the next 99 years,” Collins said.

Another 47-unit affordable rental project will also be built adjacent to the condo development by CCSM.

Construction is expected to begin in the summer of 2009.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 31, 2008.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/073108.pdf?ref=smdp.com)