LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Architecture, urbanism and landscape-design firm Studio One Eleven has announced designs for three supportive housing developments using advanced modular design. The new projects include Vanowen Apartments, the first of Los Angeles’ HHH Housing Innovation Challenge projects to close financing and begin construction, providing housing and services to chronically homeless Angelenos. All the projects’ efficient modular designs reduce costs 30-35% below conventional construction. The developer is Daylight Community Development, with The Decro Group, and Howard CDM providing construction.
“The three projects demonstrate that the modular designs we are perfecting with our partners significantly reduce cost and construction time,” said Michael Bohn, Studio One Eleven Senior Principal, AIA. “We may have provided the model to build it faster, cheaper and better for the affordable housing sector which could help alleviate Los Angeles’ housing crisis.”
The three new developments – Vanowen Apartments, Oatsie’s Place and McDaniel House – follow Watts Works, Studio One Eleven’s initial modular housing collaboration with Daylight Community Development. Employing the Proposition HHH Challenge of $120 million budget to build faster and cheaper, the team applied City of Los Angeles’ $24 million corporate commitment to a funding model much simpler than traditional financing.
“This allowed us to speed-up the process, and as a result, out of the six HHH awardees of 22 projects, ours were first three projects to close their tax credit financing and begin construction,” said Daylight Community Development Co-Founding Partner Greg Comanor. “These three pilot projects are a replicable model for the future.”
The place names were also created with the developer, two of which are named after political activists in their given neighborhoods (Harvard Street and Sherman Way). The intent is to give stakeholders an opportunity to connect to the history of the site, and the specific population living in the actual projects.
At the project groundbreaking in October 2021, Mayor Eric Garcetti said, “With 49 units of permanent supportive housing, the Vanowen Apartments represent an important expansion of the housing stock in Council District 2. This project, which was funded by measure HHH, provides further evidence that the City is deeply committed to building safe, secure housing for our neighbors experiencing homelessness.”
