Affordable housing opens

SOUTH GLENDALE — City officials paved the way for more than 100 new affordable housing units Thursday with the grand opening of the Metropolitan City Lights apartment complex and the groundbreaking for the Metro Loma complex.

“The projects will provide a combined 109 units of quality affordable housing,” Glendale Mayor Ara Najarian told a crowd gathered at the southern end of Gardena Avenue to welcome the city’s newest housing development — a $23.5-million, 65-unit affordable-housing project.

People filled the courtyard beneath the building’s yellow, green and gray exterior while others looked on from balconies on the second and third floors as those involved with the project took the stage to give their blessings to the new establishment.

“May the sun always shine on beautiful projects like this,” Najarian said.

City Lights and the soon-to-be-built $19.3-million Metro Loma will be a substantial resource for those looking for low-income residences in the city, he said.

The projects, proposed and built by Squier Properties and Advanced Development and Investment Inc., included funding from the city and tax credits from the state.

Rent for these two complexes will range from about $500 to $900 per month, said Peter Zovak, city Deputy Director of Housing.

A majority of the City Lights’ 65 apartments are spoken for, with residents approved and readying to move in, Zovak said.

The city used a lottery process to choose applicants from a pool of about 3,000 hopefuls.

The location of the new housing, close to the Glendale Train Station, will also likely keep more cars off the road, Councilman Dave Weaver said.

“Both projects are in the transit district and that’s what we wanted,” he said. “Workers in the transit district won’t have to drive.”

The projects’ proximity to the city southern border will also send a good message to visitors of what the city is all about, said Rodney Khan, a consultant on the project.

“That’s a gateway into the city,” he said. “So now when you’re coming into our city, that project will act as kind of a benchmark — it really draws you into the city.”

Lilit Nadjarian, of Sweden, attended the gathering Thursday to see the new home where her family members will soon be moving in.

“It’s very nice,” she said. “When we first heard about it we didn’t know it would be this nice. I hope more of these come into the city.”

Advanced Development and Investment Inc. officials are looking into designing another, 68-unit affordable housing project in the city.