One by one, a crane lifted what looked like shipping containers into the air and placed each one near the corner of Devonshire Street and Eton Avenue in Chatsworth. The rectangular-shaped “modular units” were set down on a 31,000-square-foot construction site with plans to join them together to build an apartment building for people who are currently homeless.
The premanufactured units will be connected like Lego pieces to construct 99 affordable studio apartments in a four-story building – dubbed the “Cielo” – priced for tenants currently unhoused in Los Angeles who earn between 30 and 50 percent of the median income level in the area.
Stephanie Klasky-Gamer, president and CEO of LA Family Housing (LAFH), described the new modular project as “a game changer.” She said utilizing modular units to create the Cielo and similar future housing projects cuts construction costs, and the relatively uniform design helps reduce construction timelines.
“All of those things [help us] address our housing and homelessness crisis because the key to addressing this crisis is having more housing, and the key to having more housing is making it more affordable and faster to build,” Klasky-Gamer told the San Fernando Valley Sun/el Sol. “The Cielo showcases how we can produce housing at a lower cost and at a faster rate.”
LA City Councilmember John Lee emphasized that same point at the ceremony officially launching the project on Nov. 12, when the first modular units were placed at the Chatsworth construction site.
“This modular project represents an innovative shift in how we think about building housing, and it is a model for how we can create needed permanent supportive housing more quickly and sustainably,” he said.
Scheduled to be completed in July 2025, the Cielo, located at 21300 Devonshire St., will have a large community room, a 5,000-square-foot courtyard with barbecue grills, walking paths and a dog run. A key component will be on-site supportive services for residents with resources for education, employment and health care.
Modular Projects for the Unhoused
Klasky-Gamer said LAFH will launch a second modular housing complex in the San Fernando Valley – to be built on Sherman Way in Canoga Park – in the spring of 2025. She said the LA Homeless Services Authority will match people in need with modular housing units as they become available.
The Cielo and the Canoga Park projects are two of five modular housing developments being funded by a $40 million HHH Innovation Challenge Award, supported by Proposition HHH, a $1.2 billion bond measure passed in 2016 to provide housing for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
The city of LA awarded the HHH funding to the nonprofit developer collaborative comprised of LAFH, Abode Communities and Mercy Housing California. The five buildings will provide a combined total of 398 new permanent homes with studio floor plans for individual occupants.
To date, two of the five modular projects have already been completed – one in San Pedro and one in Whittier.
In previous years there has been pushback from residents in various communities across LA against housing projects for the homeless – including in Chatsworth in 2019, when community members unsuccessfully protested the construction of a five-story, 54-unit supportive housing building because it would be located near an elementary school. Klasky-Gamer said they have not faced similar opposition to the modular projects in Chatsworth or Canoga Park.
“We invested in community outreach to share our vision and the proposed use and, in both cases, had support from the LA City Councilmembers [in those districts],” she said, adding that she believes “council support definitely helps neighbors feel confident, but so does [LAFH’s] reputation and track record. All neighbors were invited to see our other permanent supportive housing properties.”
Klasky-Gamer said the two San Fernando Valley sites were selected based on a variety of factors, including seeking out available corner lots to ease the delivery of the modular units. In addition, the anticipated Canoga Park site will be located near three other existing LAFH properties.
“Our goal is to make this [modular] process replicable for supportive housing developments across California,” she said, adding: “We know that it can’t stop here.”
LA Family Housing is a nonprofit that provides temporary and permanent housing services for individuals and families experiencing homelessness across the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys.
Editor Diana Martinez contributed to this article.
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