1st Phase of $1B Los Angeles Redevelopment Completed
BRIDGE Housing started construction on the project’s first 115 affordable units in 2017.
Cedar Grove at Jordan Downs. Image courtesy of BRIDGE Housing
BRIDGE Housing has opened Cedar Grove at Jordan Downs, a 115-unit affordable housing property in Los Angeles. Cedar Grove represents the first phase of the $1 billion revitalization of Jordan Downs, a 1950s-era public housing community encompassing 700 distressed units in the city’s Watts neighborhood. The development team broke ground on Phase 1 in 2017, with SVA Architects and Mithun serving as architects and Cannon Constructors South as general contractor.
Situated on 3 acres at 2179 E. Century Blvd., Cedar Grove consists of 12 buildings with a mix of one- to five-bedroom floorplans. All units cater to residents earning 50 percent or less of the area’s median income. Amenities include a community room, a park and laundry facilities. Designed to achieve LEED Silver certification, the community features energy efficiency and environmental sustainability elements.
The property is some 8 miles south of downtown Los Angeles, near the 9.5-acre Freedom Plaza. The surrounding area also holds Watts Towers Arts Center and Ted Watkins Memorial Park.
This first phase of the project received financing from various sources: the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, the California Department of Housing and Community Development, Bank of America, Chase Bank, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee.
A long-term project
In 2008, the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles teamed up with residents and stakeholders in order to rebuild Jordan Downs into a mixed-use, mixed-income community. BRIDGE Housing and The Michaels Organization were appointed as master developers of the revitalization in 2012.
The project reached its third phase of construction in May, after receiving more than $33 million in financing. Upon completion, the redevelopment will include 710 mixed-income apartments, a new community and recreation center, approximately 115,000 square feet of retail and 9 acres of green space.
