An all-affordable senior housing complex in Beverly Hills is a step closer to becoming reality.
The City of Beverly Hills voted Wednesday to enter into a one-year exclusive negotiation agreement with nonprofit developer West Hollywood Community Housing Corporation regarding a ground lease at 327-335 South Robertson Boulevard.
“Our hope is to execute a long-term ground lease of 55 years or longer,” Anup Nitin Patel, director of real estate development for West Hollywood Community Housing Corporation, told The Real Deal.
Plans call for 50 units — the minimum the developer said it needs for the project to pencil out — across four to five stories with an additional rooftop amenity level, according to a presentation by Logan Phillippo, real property development manager for the city. The preliminarily proposed development has 49 one-bedroom affordable units age-restricted for those 55 years and older and one on-site manager’s unit, according to the city staff report.
The project, slated for the west side of Robertson Boulevard between Wilshire and Olympic boulevards, would include retail and private parking.
Beverly Hills City Parking Authority, a city agency providing and managing public parking facilities, acquired the 13,740-square-foot site for $10.1 million in 2019. The Parking Authority will transfer the site to the city via a quitclaim deed.
Wednesday’s vote allows West Hollywood Community Housing Corporation to demonstrate site control, a requirement for the organization to pursue $3 million in funding from a LA County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency grant. The application for LACAHSA’s Draft Notice of Funding Availability deadline is Dec. 22, Phillippo said.
With 50 units, the city estimates the development costs would total $42 million. The site could accommodate up to 80 units. The developer will seek additional public financing to foot the bill.
The property is home to a single-story, 6,000-square-foot commercial structure with eight retail spaces of approximately 750 square feet each, according to the staff report. Five of the eight spaces are vacant. The remaining spaces are occupied on a month-to-month basis, with a total rent roll of $9,090 per month.
Established in 1986, West Hollywood Community Housing Corporation develops, owns and operates affordable housing projects in West Hollywood and the greater Los Angeles area. Completed projects include the 42-unit Mariposa Lily, an affordable and permanent supportive housing development in the Pico Union district just west of downtown Los Angeles, and the 93-unit Westmore Linden affordable rental housing for seniors in the neighboring Westlake district.
The city has committed to facilitating the development of 557 units of affordable housing on multiple city properties, as described in the housing element of the city’s general plan.
Beverly Hills Mayor Sharona Nazarian said the site “makes sense for housing,” rather than its original intention for parking.
She noted that several sites originally designated for affordable housing in the city have since been identified as “sitting on an active fault line,” so housing cannot be built on them. “As a result we must look for sites to fulfill our housing obligation,” she added.
Nazarian warned that without proactive action, the city could lose control over its own development, opening the door for large-scale builder’s remedy projects to reshape Beverly Hills.
Builder’s remedy is a loophole in state housing law that lets developers skirt zoning rules in cities that fail to certify their state housing plans, as long as they include at least 20 percent affordable housing.
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