June 28th, 2023
Brooke Wirtschafter, IKAR’s Director of Community Organizing, said adding a few stories of affordable housing on top of the project makes sense because the city of L.A. encourages this kind of development through an incentive program called Transit Oriented Communities.
“We’re in a transit corridor,” Wirtschafter said. “We should be fully able to build the building that we want to build without having to ask for any special exemptions.”
Earlier this month, IKAR submitted its development application to the city. They’re hoping to receive swift approval under Mayor Karen Bass’ executive directive requiring city departments to review and approve affordable housing plans within 60 days.
Even with better zoning and speedy review periods, the IKAR project is not a done deal. Their nonprofit developer partner, Community Corporation of Santa Monica, is still seeking the public funding it needs to build from various local, state and federal sources.