Officials to Dedicate Apartment Complex

City and county officials will dedicate a new low-income apartment complex today on the site of a building destroyed in the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

Completed in November, the Villas del Sol complex is reserved for families with incomes less than 50% of the county average, officials said.

A three-bedroom apartment in the 11-unit complex rents for $616 per month, officials said.

The $1.4-million complex, built by local developers Severyn and Martha Aszkenazy, was subsidized by a grant from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Tim Elliott, project manager for the Los Angeles County Community Development Commission, which administered the grant, said there is a pressing need for low-income housing in the county.

“Overall, the unmet need for affordable housing is in the tens of thousands countywide,” Elliott said.

While the new building has fewer units than the previous complex, the apartments are larger and represent a big improvement in quality, Elliott said.

“They are very nice units,” Elliott said. “They are in the style of townhouses and they look like individual homes. We’re very pleased with the way the project turned out.”

An additional amenity for the complex at 2020 2nd St. is a mural in the playground area depicting the maturation process of the children living in the complex, officials said.

County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and San Fernando Mayor Raul Godinez II are among the officials scheduled to attend today’s dedication, which begins at 9:30 a.m. and is open to the public.