Before a new six-story rental development even opened in San Pedro, there were more than 4,300 applications for the 90 apartments.
Among the new families moving in are some 100 children.
“The county has a shortfall of more than 500,000 units of affordable and lower income” units, said Ben Winter, senior vice president of the nonprofit developer Linc Housing. “There’s a huge need and there’s certainly no shortage of need in the South Bay or San Pedro.”
Dignitaries, government officials and community members turned out Thursday, Oct 26, for the formal opening celebration for the “456 West.” Units in the building, 456 W. Ninth St., were all spoken for and most of the residents had moved in by the time it formally opened this week. Residents began arriving in August. Construction began in February 2021.
The development was created and built by the nonprofit Linc Housing, which is based in Long Beach; National CORE, a nonprofit affordable housing developer; and Los Angeles city. The city has pressed for more housing as a way to address both homelessness and high rental costs.
But 456 West, built on what was a former city parking lot between Ninth and Eighth streets, just east of Pacific Avenue and near Mesa Street, is in the category of a federal affordable housing structure. It is not a supportive housing development, which specifically provides units for those coming out of homelessness.
Two other projects by the same developer — SagePoint in Wilmington, with 56 affordable and supportive homes for seniors coming out of homelessness, and Cadence in Watts ,with 64 new homes for those experiencing homelessness — are geared more toward those needs.
The 465 West project, however, is a way to intervene before families wind up without a roof over their heads, Winter said.
“Affordability is one of the factors behind homelessness,” he said in a telephone interview before the grand opening.
Rents at 456 West will be kept at about 30% of the…
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