In partnership with the City of Los Angeles and BRIDGE Housing, the County of Los Angeles has been awarded $20 million from the California Department of Housing and Community Development and Strategic Growth Council to support the development of affordable housing and related sustainable transportation improvements in West Athens-Westmont and South Los Angeles. The Vermont Manchester Transit Priority Project will create 180 new units of affordable housing using funding from Round 4 of the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program.
Approximately $13.5 million will be set aside to build affordable housing, while the remaining $6.5 million will fund nearby transit-oriented infrastructure as well as a local hiring program. The award is a result of collaboration between the County’s Chief Executive Office; the Departments of Public Works, Regional Planning, and Public Health; the Los Angeles County Development Authority; the City of Los Angeles; and BRIDGE Housing.
The Vermont Manchester Transit Priority Project will transform a vacant lot blighted since the 1992 civil unrest into a mixed-use development with 180 units of affordable housing for formerly homeless individuals and families, and 55,000 square feet of ground floor community-serving retail. The housing development will include a new, landscaped public transit plaza on Vermont Avenue and improved pedestrian and cycling connections to Manchester Avenue Elementary School and the Silver Line bus rapid transit station. The project is part of a larger mixed-use development that includes a Metro-operated job training center and a boarding school focused on training students for careers in the transportation industry.