Originally published by Curbed LA
East LA Community Corporation broke ground today on a 85-unit housing complex in El Sereno that will provide homes for formerly homeless veterans and non-veterans and low-income families.
The project is one of 19 under construction now using funds from Measure HHH, the voter-approved 2016 bond measure that made $1.2 billion in financing available for the development of permanent supportive housing.
Named Rosa de Castilla Apartments, the apartment complex will hold 49 units of permanent supportive housing for homeless veterans, 14 units of general permanent supportive housing, and 20 units for low-income families. (The remaining two units are reserved for management.)
Speaking at a groundbreaking event for the new development, ELACC president Isela Gracian thanked the project’s future neighbors. “We welcomed the community in the process,” and received support and feedback on the project and its design, Gracian said.
All tenants will have access ELACC’s tenant services, such as after school tutoring and financial literacy classes. ELACC is also partnering with New Directions for Veterans to provide veteran-directed services.
Residents of Rosa de Castilla will also get to use a community garden, a courtyard, a gym, and parking for both bikes and cars. Along the ground floor, the FSY Architects-designed apartment complex will have 2,500 square feet of ground floor commercial space.
“These are your HHH dollars at work,” said Ed Gipson, of the finance and development division of the city’s housing and community investment department.
Many Angelenos have been irked by the fact that more than two years after the measure was approved, not a single HHH unit is open.
The Rosa de Castilla apartments received $12 million in HHH funds, HCID data shows. An additional 21 projects have secured Measure HHH financing, with 19 projects ready to start construction. Rosa de Castilla is scheduled to open in fall 2020.