Hollywood : Social Plan Wins Honors

The Community Redevelopment Agency’s Hollywood Social Needs Plan has won an award from a national association of housing and redevelopment officials.

The National Assn. of Housing and Redevelopment Officials will present the CRA with its “social needs” award later this month at the group’s summer conference in Reno.

The CRA’s social needs plan is being implemented as part of the agency’s $922-million, 1,107-acre Hollywood redevelopment effort.

According to CRA officials, the plan addresses the “unique” social needs of Hollywood, including homelessness, joblessness, child care and a lack of low-cost medical care. Under the redevelopment plan, CRA officials must set aside an amount equivalent to 10% of the tax increment generated by the project (through payment of property taxes) for social needs programs.

The CRA says no other redevelopment project in the country has such a set-aside provision. In accordance with the plan, the CRA already has provided the Los Angeles Free Clinic with $750,000 to create a Hollywood Youth Center and has given money to other programs.

The National Assn. of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, established in 1933, is a professional organization with 8,000 members. The group’s members develop and manage U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development programs and provide housing for low- and moderate-income people.