SOUTH LOS ANGELES, December 14, 2018 – State and local public officials, including Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles Councilmember Curren Price, Jr., and Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, as well as community leaders, and members of the ownership and development team joined together today to officially break ground on the $32 million RISE Apartments located at 4050 South Figueroa Street in South Los Angeles.
The new permanent supportive housing community will provide much-needed housing for homeless veterans and other homeless individuals earning 30 to 50 percent of the area median income (AMI) who are transitioning into a supportive housing community.
The five-story structure will have one level of subterranean parking and features 56 studio units and one one-bedroom manager’s unit. In designing the community, special elements were taken into account to address livability, comfort, and safety of the residents, as well as the long-term management of the building.
Units will be fully furnished and include a kitchenette with refrigerator, cooktop, and microwave. Community amenities will include a community room, a residential courtyard, roof terraces, bike storage, covered parking, onsite management, and laundry facilities. The building will also provide three supportive services/case management offices to be located on the fourth and fifth floors.
In addition to the residential community, there will be 3,400 square feet of community commercial office space. This space will be designated for a community serving non-profit, RISE Financial Pathways, which is dedicated to serving low-income clients by providing training that improves the financial standing of individuals, launches and sustains small businesses, and strengthens neighborhoods.
RISE Housing, LP owns the apartment community. Gardena, California-based Highridge Development Company, LLC, and SRO Housing Corporation of Los Angeles are the developers. The general contractor is Alpha Construction Company, Inc., of Van Nuys. The architectural firm is Egan Simon Architecture of Playa del Rey.
To finance the development, RISE Apartments has been awarded a preliminary reservation of four percent of Low Income Housing Tax Credits in the amount of $917,604 annually over a ten-year period from the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee (“CTCAC”) which is paired with $16.2MM in Tax Exempt Bonds from the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee (CDLAC). In addition, RISE has received an award for $9,500,000 million in Proposition HHH funding and $2,500,000 of the City’s Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund (“LMIHF”) from the City of Los Angeles as well as a commitment for 42 VASH Project Based Vouchers and 14 Project Based Vouchers from the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA).
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"Everyone in our city deserves safe housing --- and we're going to keep accelerating our drive to get people off the streets and under a roof," said Mayor Eric Garcetti. "We are starting a new chapter in Expo Park, and I'm proud to that our community is coming together to provide homes, dignity, and a new start to Angelenos in desperate need."
"This is another giant step in the city's effort to eliminate homelessness and ensure our most vulnerable people have a shot at living a life of dignity and respect," said Councilman Curren D. Price, Jr., who represents Council District 9. "RISE Apartments offer hope, opportunities and new beginnings; and the fortunate individuals that will one day call RISE their home can and will prosper! I wholeheartedly believe that Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) is the answer, which is why to date I've authorized the construction of nearly 500 PSH units in the Ninth District alone."
“We are grateful to the men and women who have bravely served our country, and consider it our duty to ensure veterans have access to decent affordable housing and supportive services,” Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas said. “I salute RISE Apartments for helping veterans rise out of homelessness.”
“The RISE Apartments is SRO Housing Corporation's first development outside of downtown Los Angeles and we could not have selected a better partner than Highridge Costa. We are committed to addressing the dire affordable housing needs in Los Angeles and the RISE Apartments is just the beginning,” said Anita Nelson of SRO Housing.
"As a local nonprofit organization, RISE Financial Pathways is honored to be a part of the solution by providing affordable housing for our veterans and homeless living here in Los Angeles," said Forescee Hogan-Rowles, President & CEO, RISE Financial Pathways.
“Given the severe lack of housing for our homeless veterans, we at Highridge Costa take tremendous pride in our ability to create high quality, safe and affordable places to live for those who selflessly served our country. We feel very fortunate that our ‘work’ creates such good for so many lives,” said Michael Costa, President and CEO of Highridge Costa.
“We would like to thank all of the organizations and people who worked together, and the vital roles they played, to develop this affordable apartment community for the homeless, including our deserving veterans,” said Mohannad H. Mohanna, President of Highridge Costa, Development.
