Non-profit organizations based in two Asian/American communities in the center of Los Angeles will work together on a new affordable housing project just a few miles from the gleaming new residential lofts that have sprung up Downtown in recent years.
The Little Tokyo Service Center, located in the Japanese/American enclave on the northeastern edge of Downtown, recently landed a $200,000 grant from the federal government to help pay for the clean up of an old oil field that is part of a project.
The Pilipino Workers Center has signed on as a partner in the development, which will replace a familiar neighborhood market with an estimated 50 units of affordable housing and community space.
The funding comes to the Little Tokyo Service Center's Community Development Corp. from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a Brownfields grant. The Brownfields program generally aims to "stimulate the redevelopment of abandoned and contaminated lands," according to officials of the federal agency.
So-called affordable housing units are typically leased at rates within the budgets of tenants who make 60% or less of the median annual income in the region. The current median income for a family of four is approximately $69,000 a year. The median income is approximately $49,500 for individuals. That means that families with annual household income of approximately $41,000 or less — and individuals who make $30,000 or less a year — might qualify for the affordable units.
Oil production took place at the site on Glendale Boulevard between 1930 and 1992, and left behind petroleum hydrocarbons, according to the EPA.
"These Brownfields funds will breathe new life into Historic Filipinotown," said Wayne Nastri, a regional administrator for the EPA's Pacific Southwest region.
A complete environmental clean-up of the site will cost approximately $1 million, according to officials of the Little Tokyo Service Center, which has already purchased the land. Officials of the non-profit organization said the entire cost of the project is expected to total $18.5 million, adding that plans call for a mix of private and public money to cover the tab.
Bill Watanabe, executive director of the Little Tokyo Service Center, said that plans call for his organization to serve as the managing partner, with the Pilipino Workers Center taking on the role of general partner, during construction of the project and the initial phase of its operation as a residential center. The Pilipino Workers Center will eventually take over operations of the development, he said. Watanabe added that the Little Tokyo Service Center and the Pilipino Workers Center will remain partners, along with a private party, in an ownership structure that provides tax credits for the investors.
The development of affordable housing is nothing new for the Little Tokyo Service Center, which owns and operates the Casa Heiwa development of affordable housing atop its offices on the 200 block of E. 3rd Street. The organization also owns and operates several other developments, including the Far East Building on the 300 block of E. 1st Street, where a restaurant occupies the ground floor and affordable residential units are located on upper floors.
The Little Tokyo Service Center is busy with other projects, too. The Los Angeles City Council recently voted to make land on the 300 block of S. Los Angeles Street available to the organization, which intends to build a community recreation center on the site. The plan calls for the non-profit to raise funds for the construction.
Sam Hassan is a writer for the L.A. Garment & Citizen.
Historical photo of L.A. oil fields from State of California Department of Conservation
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