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By Jorge Casuso
August 9 -- In a city
of million-dollar bungalows,
where officials are grappling
for ways to create affordable
“workforce housing,”
new condos could be going up
that will be sold to workers
making between $50,000 and $60,000
a year.
But Community Corporation’s
proposed 92-unit project --
with nearly half of the units
for sale -- will likely serve
less as a model than an exception
showing just how difficult it
will be to build homes for middle-income
workers in the upscale beachside
city.
“I think that this is
really a one-off deal, because
we bought the land so cheaply,”
said Joan Ling, executive director
of Community Corp, Santa Monica’s
largest affordable housing provider.
“If we did it today, it
would cost $600,000 per unit.”
The proposed development on
High Place in the Pico Neighborhood
will replace a dozen old houses
on two acres Community Corp
bought five years ago at a bargain
rate, Ling said.
“The houses were dilapidated,
and over half were not habitable,”
she said.
The non-profit bought the land
cheap -- about $50,000 a unit
-- and pumped another $200,000
in subsidies to offset the building
costs of each condo unit, Ling
said.
The low overhead will allow
Community Corp to charge around
$200,000 for each of the 45
three-bedroom condo units, compared
to $600,000 for the average
two-bedroom condo in Santa Monica,
Ling said.
The units can be used as two-bedroom
units with a den, she said.
“It gives us more flexibility.”
The project also will include
47 rental units -- the one-bedrooms
measuring some 850 square feet,
while the two bedrooms will
measure between 1,100 and 1.200
square feet, Ling said.
To find income-qualified tenants,
Community Corp mounted an extensive
outreach campaign, including
sending information about the
proposed project with pay checks
that went out to employees of
Saint John’s Health Center
and the School District, Ling
said.
The non-profit -- which gave
local preference to applicants
from Santa Monica -- also reached
out to parishioners at St. Anne’s
Catholic Church and Calvary
Baptist Church, both in the
Pico Neighborhood, which has
the city’s largest minority
population, she said.
“Many minorities can’t
buy or rent ( in Santa Monica),
so they move to Inglewood,”
Ling said. “Through the
churches and community groups,
we can reach those who are being
displaced.”
The units will remain affordable,
Ling said.
“When (the owners) are
ready to sell,” she said,
“they have to sell to
an income-eligible buyer.”
The public process for the
Environmental Impact Report
(EIR) is underway, and the project
should go before the Planning
Commission in October, Ling
said.
If the Planning Commission
approves the project -- which
proposes getting rid of High
Place and installing a 22-foot
alley -- the decision will likely
be appealed by neighbors who
stand to lose on-street parking.
If High Place remains, the
three-story project will have
to be scaled down, resulting
in a loss of ten condo units,
Ling said.
If the project clears the Planning
Commission and the EIR is certified,
the groundbreaking could take
place in 2009, Ling said.
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