VAN NUYS : Low-Cost Loan OKd for Apartments

The Los Angeles City Council voted 10 to 0 Wednesday to make a low-interest $1,038,100 loan to an apartment house developer as part of a city plan to revitalize a crime-troubled area of Van Nuys.

The loan will go to the Nelson Network Inc., a for-profit company, which plans to build a 50-unit apartment building at 14600 Blythe St.

The project will replace 15 existing units where about 50 people now live. City officials are trying to develop a pioneering partnership with local property owners to upgrade the area with better housing and new social services.

Since the mid-1980s, this portion of Blythe Street has been the site of drug-dealing and prostitution activities. Five years ago, the city erected traffic barriers to curb the drive-by drug sales. The barriers were recently removed at the council’s direction.