OCEAN PARK — There are better meals ahead for the tenants of a Santa Monica affordable housing development.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved an approximately $499,000 contract with AZ Home to renovate the kitchens in all 22 units of a 62-year-old building at 175 Ocean Park Blvd. The county Housing Authority owns and manages the building where low-income seniors and families live.
The money to rehabilitate the apartment complex comes from the authority’s capital fund using grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.0
“It’s time,” Esther Keosababian, the acting director of the housing management division, said. “It’s time to provide these improvements to the development.”
The building will see both interior and exterior improvements, replacing cabinetry, countertops, sinks, plumbing fixtures, and flooring and lighting. The bathrooms will also undergo a partial remodel, including reglazing existing cast iron tubs and replacing vanities.
The contractor will be asked to complete each unit within three days, allowing the resident to stay in a hospitality suite located on site during that duration.
Keosababian said that even though the authority has a long list of needed capital improvement projects in its public housing developments, it’s restricted financially since HUD has reduced the amount of capital funds available. The authority also has properties in Long Beach and West Hollywood.
“When we have money, we take most often the neediest capital improvements and apply that,” she said. “We try to make it equitable across the sites.”
