SHERMAN OAKS : HUD OKs Housing Project for Seniors
Plans for a unique Sherman Oaks housing project, for which developers purchased the air above the land to build, has been given the final thumbs up by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development to begin construction.
The 83-unit complex, for low-income senior citizens, is one of four senior housing structures in the Los Angeles area built under a federal air rights transactions building code. The building code means a developer can buy a portion of space above a plot of land to build a structure, rather than buy the land. Similar buildings are in Beverly Hills, West Los Angeles and Santa Monica.
“In this case we didn’t buy dirt, we bought air,” said Leslie Macchiarella, an attorney in HUD’s Los Angeles office. “A portion of space that was one-story above the ground.”
As part of the air-rights code, the apartment building, at 14567 Dickens St., will sit atop a two-level parking structure with 247 parking spaces, 41 of which will be reserved for the tenants. The remainder will be open to the general public.
The four-story structure is jointly funded by a $6.9-million HUD loan, the city of Los Angeles and the Menorah Housing Foundation, an agency of the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles. It will replace a 142-space public parking lot just south of a Ventura Boulevard shopping strip.
The HUD loan is interest free and does not have to be repaid as long as the housing remains low-income for at least 40 years, said Scott Reed, spokesman for HUD’s Los Angeles office.
The city of Los Angeles put up $1 million for the parking structure and is nearing completion of that phase of construction, said Howard Katz, housing consultant for the project.
All 83 units will be one-bedroom apartments with a maximum occupancy of two people. Eight apartments are designed for seniors using wheelchairs.
HUD’s Section 8 program requires a maximum annual income of $17,950 for individuals and $20,500 for couples. Eligible tenants must be 62 or older, or 50 if disabled, and must be able to live independently. Qualified tenants will pay up to 30% of their monthly gross income in rent.
Applications for apartments will be received by the Menorah Housing Foundation about three to six months before construction is completed, in July, 1996. Federal preference is given to those who now pay 50% of their income in rent, are living in substandard housing or have been involuntarily displaced from their homes.
