Council OKs Loan for Apartment Project

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday approved a $2.3-million low-interest loan for the nonprofit developer of an 18-unit affordable housing project in North Hollywood.

It is the fourth underwritten by the Community Redevelopment Agency for developers of affordable apartments on Harmony Avenue in the North Hollywood Redevelopment Project.

Recipient is L. A. Family Housing Corp., which builds low-cost housing and operates programs for the homeless.

Harmony is a block-long street north of Magnolia Boulevard that until several years ago was a hodgepodge of run-down single-family homes, said Jerry Belcher, head of the North Hollywood project.

With the 18-unit project, the CRA will have lent $5.9 million at below-market interest rates and provided other subsidies to projects on the street.

He said the revitalization has stimulated construction of two dozen privately financed apartment buildings nearby.