“In 2019, the City of Los Angeles recorded a 16% increase in homelessness, putting current homeless numbers at more than 36,000 people in the city alone. The steady rise in homelessness, mixed with the ongoing housing crisis in LA, has caused many real estate developers to look for solutions that are both practical and sustainable,” writes Adam Gower for Propmodo.
In an effort to help solve the housing crisis Los Angeles voters, in 2017, approved Measure H, a sales tax increase to help the homeless. The tax is expected to raise $355 million a year for 10 years to provide affordable housing for the homeless and to help prevent further homelessness.
Los Angeles real estate developers, John Perfitt and Jason Neville, are taking on homelessness in their own way. They aim to create housing solutions for the homeless which are low-cost, affordable, modern and useful. No luxury apartments here.
They have taken advantage of the recent focus of local government, the accessory dwelling unit (ADU), which can provide affordable housing on existing single-family lots. When zoning laws for ADUs became less restrictive in 2017, Neville and Perfitt started Building Blocks, a company which is developing a simple solution for designing, permitting and building them.
Another of their projects is Bungalow Gardens, for which the developers sought funding from every day investors by crowdfunding the project on Small Change. Bungalow courts were a common form of housing model in Los Angeles in the early 20th century. However, as zoning laws increased parking requirements, so the bungalow court model became untenable. Recently zoning laws have changed again, removing the parking requirement for homes near public transit, and so the bungalow court once again has become an attractive, low-cost housing alternative. Perfitt and Neville are the first to build a bungalow court in 70 years.
Perfitt and Neville want to be successful in making a positive impact and they want to be sure the community is involved. When they plan a development they knock on doors and meet with locals, one-on-one. And they hope to once again offer investment opportunities to locals so that the community will also have a financial stake in the success of each project.
Read the original article here.
Image courtesy of Restore Neighborhoods LA