CARSON, Calif. — Home sales may be dropping in Southern California, but land is still prohibitively expensive, especially for building affordable housing. That’s why the city of Carson has spent the last several years remediating the site of a former landfill it owned so the property could be repurposed for low-income housing serving military veterans.
Veterans Village, as the property is now known, officially opened Thursday with 51 units of permanent affordable housing for military veterans and their families.
“Shame on us as Americans for not having a place for veterans to call home,” said Carson Mayor Lula Davis-Holmes during the ribbon cutting for the new Veterans Village housing complex situated along the 110 freeway on S. Figueroa Street. “That should bother every American in the United States of America. We need to take care of our veterans. We need to take care of our homeless.”
About 30% of people experiencing homelessness in California are veterans. In addition to providing affordable housing that is priced based on an individual’s income, the complex has partnered with the homeless veterans’ organization U.S. Vets, which is providing an on-site case worker to help with supportive services. Monthly rents run from $15 to $1,800 depending on need.
“Getting an affordable home is the first step, but many of our residents need significant help transitioning from living on the street to living in an apartment,” said Jordan Pynes, president of Thomas Safran & Associates, which built the building.
A developer that builds market-rate, affordable and permanent supportive housing, Thomas Safran & Associates recently opened an almost identical building in West LA called Missouri Place that includes affordable housing and permanent supportive units for formerly homeless individuals.
The four-story Veterans Village building consists of one-, two- and three-bedroom units that can accommodate up to seven people in the largest apartment. Square footage runs from 599 square feet for a one-bedroom to 1,232 square feet for a three-bedroom.
“This is heaven on earth,” said Michael Cole, an Army veteran who applied for an apartment at the Veterans Village at 12:01 a.m. the day applications were available after receiving a flyer from the military. He has been living in the complex for 2 1/2 years and pays $1,100 for a one-bedroom apartment.
Before moving in, Cole lived in Inglewood with a friend from church and was spending $1,700. The rent he pays at Veterans Village, the services he gets — even the laundry room — are “amazing,” he said.
Cole was one of 2,000 veterans who applied for the 51 spaces, according to Carson Mayor Davis-Holmes, who said she is already hoping to build a second housing complex for veterans.
Veterans Village was funded with donated land from the city of Carson, which also kicked in $5.5 million for the project, as well as tax credits from state and federal government, and private commercial loans.