Developers secure the go-ahead from the Los Angeles City Planning Commission for an apartment complex in Silver Lake despite local pushback.
The commission gave the green light to a proposal from co-applicants Fang Qian Morgan and Seth James Morgan to redevelop parts of the property at 2413 North Silver Lake Boulevard with 76 one-bedroom apartments, Urbanize Los Angeles reported.
The proposed development areas currently contain car ports, which would be cleared to make way for the residences. The parcel also contains a series of two-story buildings containing 48 rent-stabilized apartments that will be maintained as part of the project. When the project went before the commission in April, several tenants of the property expressed concerns with the maintenance of the existing housing there.
Officials issued a continuance to allow for City of Los Angeles staff to provide additional information regarding the project’s entitlements, potential transportation impacts and construction impacts for existing tenants. The Planning Commission signed off on the proposal following the continuance period.
The developer duo is looking to erect three new buildings rising four and five stories above 119 parking spaces. Six of the apartments would be designated as affordable housing at the very low-income level, which equates to a maximum annual income of roughly $58,300 for one person. By providing affordable units, the developers would be able to utilize density bonus incentives to build larger than zoning laws typically allow at that site.
Multifamily developments such as these are a drop in the bucket that is Los Angeles’ broader state-mandated housing goals. The city is required to plan for 456,643 new units of housing by the end of the decade. Affordable housing is proving to be an increasingly viable path for developers, especially fully affordable projects that qualify for expedited approvals under Executive Directive 1. In the post-pandemic era, Los Angeles ranked among the top cities nationwide building affordable housing, with nearly a quarter of new units built being income-restricted, according to RentCafe.
— Chris Malone Méndez
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