The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is planning to build affordable housing throughout Southern California, and these projects can be implemented quickly because of a new state law that allows religious groups to accelerate the construction of housing on land they own.
The church, which is partnering with a newly formed nonprofit developer, Our Lady Queen of Angels Housing Alliance, owns properties in Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is the largest in the U.S., encompassing 288 parishes and 265 schools. Archbishop Jose Gomez said in a statement that housing will be a growing part of the church’s charitable mission. LAist reported.
“With this new initiative, we see exciting opportunities to provide more affordable housing, especially for families and young people,” said Gomez.
The initiative’s first project, known as Willow Brook, is a six-story, 74-unit apartment building to be built on land currently used by Catholic Charities north of Los Angeles City College at 4665 Willow Brook Avenue in East Hollywood.
Willow Brook will reserve 20% of its apartments for youth aging out of foster care, with rents ranging from $400 to $500 per month. The remaining apartments will be reserved for low- to moderate-income community college students who are also at risk of homelessness.
The apartment complex will replace St. Mary’s Center, a Catholic Charities facility that provides education to unaccompanied minors. The center will be relocated.
Amy Anderson, who served as Los Angeles’ top housing official under former Mayor Eric Garcetti, is executive director of the nonprofit Queen of Angels Housing. The new nonprofit will explore opportunities to build housing on unused community parking lots, Anderson said. LAist.
Other potential building sites include former Catholic schools or convents in areas where enrollment has declined. “The sites are in flux because our communities are constantly changing,” Anderson said. “This provides an opportunity to reevaluate what can be done with this land.”
Anderson said Queen of Angels Housing will submit the Willow Brook project to the city for approval next month, taking advantage of the city’s ED1 program, which fast-tracks 100% affordable housing projects.
A state law that Governor Gavin Newsom signed last fall, Senate Bill 4 (SB4) – known as the “Yes in God’s Backyard” law – allows religious institutions and nonprofit colleges to build affordable housing on their land, even if the property is not currently zoned for residential use.
According to a report released last year by UC Berkeley’s Terner Center for Housing Innovation, religious institutions and nonprofit colleges across California own a total of more than 172,000 acres of developable land – five times the size of the city of Oakland.
