An affordable housing push in Mid-City received a key recommendation this past week.
At the Feb. 3 meeting of the Santa Monica Architectural Review Board (ARB), the board supported the project design of a 100% affordable housing endeavor at 1217 14th St. The project, proposed on two parcels from 1211-1217 14th St. and 1402 Wilshire Blvd., would have 82 senior affordable and senior permanent supportive housing units.
The board meeting comes after Santa Monica City Council authorized the City Manager to negotiate and execute a Disposition and Development Agreement and Ground Lease with Hollywood Community Housing Corporation (HCHC) in December. The ARB approved the project with one condition, which is to include more landscape on the upper floors.
Of the 82 units, 40 of them will be one-bedroom used for permanent supportive housing, 40 for affordable senior housing, with two two-bedrooms added into the mix for on-site personnel. In October, HCHC Executive Director Sarah Letts said that prior feedback on the project led to prioritizing serving seniors aged 55 and above.
Public comment has been rampant about the project over the past year. The October meeting also had some residents asking about safety for the senior site, with the HCHC team responding that staffing on-site will include a paid security guard on nights and weekends during the first year of operations.
The six-story building will have subterranean parking for 42 vehicles, however, the removal of a current parking lot on the parcels was still a sore subject for some public commenters.
“The decision not to replace the already overcrowded 14th Street public lot will only exacerbate parking issues for both residents and local businesses,” resident Giacomo Valentini said. “Please note that many storefronts along that stretch of the street are currently unused, a situation we all hope will change soon. But new businesses will put additional pressure on an already precarious parking situation. This will undoubtedly create significant challenges for the entire neighborhood and represents poor planning.”
Despite the issue, other commenters were supportive of the project, stating that after January’s Palisades Fire, the housing crisis will only get worse and the city needs housing now more than ever.
The ARB approval comes a month after the project’s sister endeavor, an affordable housing complex at 1217 Euclid St., passed through the board. The HCHC project is a six-story building featuring 48 one, two and three-bedroom apartments, as well as subterranean parking for 40 vehicles.
