More Housing but Few Parking Spaces
91 units Under Construction on 9th Street Between Pacific and Mesa
A 91-unit apartment building in San Pedro consisting entirely of affordable housing is under construction. The building is at 456-462 West 9th Street, on the back of the 8th Street Lofts. It is being built through the collaboration of two nonprofits, Linc Housing and National CORE. It is replacing a public parking lot, which had 102 spaces. The building will have 49 spaces for residents and 52 public parking spaces.
Of the affordable housing, representatives from Linc Housing said 18 units will be reserved for households that make 30% of the average income for the area [$23,703]. The median area income for San Pedro is $79,012, according to Point2homes.com. 27 units are for households making 40% of the average income [$31,604], four apartments will go to households with 45% area income, and 14 units will be for households with 50% of the area income.
The spokespersons said that as of Oct. 21, the developers have undergrounded all utilities, and expect to finish grading the sites within a week, after which they will pour the foundation of the building and begin working on the two-level parking garage, then the framing of the building.
The building will be six stories, and no taller than 75 feet. It began construction in April 2021. It will have a branch of the Harbor Community Health Center on its ground floor.
The City of Los Angeles donated the use of the land, and Linc and National CORE have a ground lease agreement with the city, the Linc reps added. The agreement requires the site be used for affordable housing for 99 years.
The 49 parking spaces for residents were not required of the developers due to Senate bill 35, which addresses the lack of affordable housing. However, the 52 public spaces were mandatory to replace the public lot, which will open when the building is finished. In addition, there will be 10 spaces for the Harbor Community Health Center.
The original 102 space parking lot was at 462 W. 9th Street and closed in December 2020, representatives from the Los Angeles Department of Transportation said.
The project was approved 8-0 by the City Planning Commission on Jan. 10, 2019. Prior to this, Alexander Hall, who was the president of the Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council at the time, sent two letters to the commission saying that the council approves of the project, but had a few concerns. One was a request that the hearing be delayed for 30 days. He did not get that extra time.
Hall wrote that new housing is needed across the socioeconomic board, and that developments like 456 West can benefit both the community and businesses. He added that it is important to make sure that the community is not harmed by new developments.
“This is a significant reduction in public parking and may impact the surrounding businesses and residents,” Hall wrote. “42-45 parking spaces seems to be too few for residents. We suggest that in order to discourage residents from using the public parking in lieu of the residential parking, that the public parking should be limited to 2 to 4 hours.”
Karen Pascoe, owner of an adjacent property, said that she is not opposed to the project, but when she spoke to the planning commission at its Jan. 10, 2019 meeting she said it is too condensed.
“Every day that parking lot is completely full,” Pascoe said. “And every day the street is completely full, and I don’t think that they have really provided sufficient parking. I do think that some kind of traffic study or environmental impact report on that area should be done.”
Enrique Ibarra, assistant manager of the O’Reilly Auto Parts on 842 South Pacific Ave., which is adjacent to the property, spoke to Random Lengths in November 2021. He said that the closing of the parking lot has impacted business in a negative way, as it is harder for customers to find parking.
The project is expected to be finished in early 2023, representatives from Linc Housing said.