JEFFERSON PARK : Joint-Venture Apartments Open

The $5-million Arlington-Rodeo Apartments opened last week, the first time such a development has opened in the area in 25 years. The 29-unit project was a joint venture between black and Korean-American developers, Global Housing Development Inc. and Sunnyland Development Inc.

“The partnership fosters a real working relationship between two communities that really must come together,” said Phyllis Moats, a spokeswoman for the 14-month project at Arlington Avenue and Rodeo Road.

The affordable-housing complex, funded by the Community Redevelopment Agency and the Century Freeway Housing Program, also houses a computer training center for the development’s teen-age and young-adult residents. The program will be administered by the Challengers Boys and Girls Club and is expected to have about 50 participants at any given time.

At last week’s ceremony to dedicate the airy peach-and-mauve building to Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, who supported the project when it got under way in her district more than a year ago, builders said the complex is significant in that it represents a true coming together of different ethnic groups in post-riot Los Angeles.

“I’m very proud of this,” said Stuart Ahn, president of Sunnyland Development Inc. “We had mixed crews--Latino, African-American, Korean--right down to the clean-up.”

Global Housing president Kaifa Tulay added that the completion of the project “commemorates a dream of healing a fractured city. It was a lot of hard work, but people came together when it mattered.”