115 new apartments coming to the site
The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles and its development partners, BRIDGE Housing and the Michaels Organization, have locked down more than $ 50 million to fuel the first wave of construction on 115 apartments in 12 building at the Jordan Downs site in Watts, sources tell Curbed.
The funding comes from a variety of sources, including the state’s new Affordable Housing Sustainable Communities program and the Federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit program.
Construction is expected to begin in 30 to 60 days, says David Roberts, director of development for Los Angeles City Councilmember Joe Buscaino, whose district includes Watts.
Another key element of the project—the extension of Century Boulevard through the site—is expected to get underway soon, says a rep for the Bureau of Engineering, which is overseeing the road project.
Century Boulevard will be extended to run the length of the housing development. Instead of stopping at Grape Street as it does now, the half-mile extension would continue the boulevard down to Alameda Street. The lengthened street would serve as the major street through the Jordan Downs complex.
The redevelopment of Jordan Downs will gradually transform the 700-unit public housing project into an approximately 1,400-unit, mixed-income “urban village” with apartments, townhouses, retail, and restaurants, plus a new community center and green space.
The redevelopment has faced many delays, and that has generated some uncertainty among Jordan Downs residents, who are left to wonder how they’ll fit into the post-makeover, mixed-income Jordan Downs.
- Why is Watts’s Huge Jordan Downs Makeover Taking So Long to Get Started? [Curbed LA]
- Watch the Story of Watts’s Jordan Downs Housing Project on the Cusp of Major Redevelopment [Curbed LA]
- Huge Jordan Downs Overhaul Loses Out on Big Chunk of Money [Curbed LA]