Together with Seattle-based development firm Housing Diversity Corp., Steinberg Hart is planning a new micro-unit apartment complex just south of Pico Station in Downtown Los Angeles.
The proposed project, slated to replace a surface parking lot at 1411 S. Flower Street, calls for the construction of a new eight-story building containing 227 apartments – the bulk of which would average approximately 265 square feet in size.
Steinberg Hart’s team is seeking entitlements for the project using Transit Oriented Communities incentives, permitting a taller structure with less on-site open space than would otherwise be allowed by the property’s base zoning. In exchange for the incentives, a total of 25 apartments are slated to be set aside as deed-restricted extremely low-income affordable housing.
The property’s proximity to Pico Station, as well as a slew of high-frequency bus lines, will also allow the developer to build the apartment building without on-site parking – a rarity among ground-up housing developments in the City of Los Angeles.
The podium-type building would be composed of five levels of wood-frame construction above a concrete base. Plans call for the project’s roof level to be activated as an amenity deck, with additional open space planned in the form of a ground-floor courtyard and breezeway.
According to the company’s founder and chief executive officer Brad Padden, the apartments at 1411 Flower Street are expected to cater to households earning between 80 and 120 percent of the area median income – a segment of the population which may be otherwise unable to afford the rents in other new buildings. “People are willing to trade space for location,” said Padden, who described the company’s micro-unit apartments as being similar to a cabin on a cruise ship. “They’re saying ‘I want to live downtown, and I want to live affordably.’”
Although rents for the as-yet unbuilt project have yet to be set, Padden hopes to offer price points between $1,500 and $1,600 per month. In comparison, the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Downtown Los Angeles is currently $2,305, according to Steve Basham, an analyst with the real estate data firm CoStar.
Housing Diversity Corp. currently anticipates securing entitlements for the Downtown project by December of 2021. Construction would begin immediately afterward, with project completion expected within 16 months, says Padden.
The project is Steinberg Hart’s third micro-unit development in the Los Angeles area in partnership with Housing Diversity Corporation, following an apartment complex which broke ground in Summer 2020 near Hollywood and Highland, as well as another Downtown project at 1233 S. Grand Avenue, which is slated to begin construction this year.
Read the full article at Urbanize.la.