Have TOC and Expo TNP resulted in housing growth near Westside rail stations?

Update: According to an application published by the Los Angeles Department of City Planning, 16 single-family houses on R3 lots just south of Expo/Bundy will become 455 homes! This is the result of AHLA advocacy, which successfully upzoned R1 lots in the "Bundy Triangle" to R3 in 2018. Thus enabling these parcels to qualify for TOC, making larger apartment complexes viable.Two years ago, our policy and research director, Anthony Dedousis, wrote a blog post about the partially realized potential of LA’s Transit-Oriented Communities (TOC) program. Since then, although our housing crisis has worsened,  pro-housing advocates’ toolkit for addressing the crisis has expanded. For example, the state ADU reform bills in 2019 led to the construction of 12,000 new ADUs in 2020, creating homes for thousands. What’s more, the signing into law of Senate Bills 8, 9, and 10 this year will help homeowners and home builders alike create more housing, particularly in places where even modest apartments are banned today, in the coming years. Given this legislative progress since 2019, I’m taking a leaf out of your least-favorite colleague’s book and am ~quickly following up to see if there’s any update~ on transit-friendly housing development on Los Angeles’ Westside.First, a quick recap of Transit-Oriented Communities: created upon voter approval of Measure JJJ in December 2016, the program grants a large density bonus,  decreases parking requirements, and speeds up permitting for multifamily housing projects within a half-mile of transit, as long as they allocate a share of new units to lower-income households at a rent they can afford. Less than two years later, the LA City Council also approved the Exposition Corridor Transit Neighborhood Plan (TNP) that rezoned 256 acres along the Expo E Line that could enable another 6,000 homes to be built by 2035. The plan has been held up by a lawsuit from Fix the City since its passage; although it was indeed implemented in December 2019.These programs were positive steps in the right direction, but the Westside needs leaps and bounds to realize visions of a walkable, affordable community. Starting with this post, Abundant Housing LA will report on the housing situations at four Westside Expo E Line stations. You’ll see what’s changed since these two pro-housing policies went into effect, as well as what’s holding back these neighborhoods from being everything they can be.

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First up we have Expo/Bundy station, which sits above-grade in the heart of West LA. With easy transit access (via rail or bus) to employment hubs such as Santa Monica, Brentwood, Westwood, and Culver City, it makes a ton of sense to build more homes in this area.  

What you’ll see within 0.5 miles: 

Along the nearby Olympic Boulevard are a mix of low-rise commercial buildings and office complexes. Within a single block east of the rail station are two grocery stores (Trader Joe’s and Ralph’s) and a Bed Bath and Beyond (which appears to be the company’s flagship store, with an eponymous “Beyond Way” leading into the above-grade garage).Immediately to the north of the station is a large project currently under construction (more on this one later!), a Staples, an Ace Hardware store, more office buildings, and an LA Fitness. Further up north is a residential neighborhood consisting mainly of multifamily housing (yay!); however, several blocks of single-family lots, few of which appear to have ADUs, remain.Just south of the station is another residential neighborhood dominated by single-family homes - but the lots on which they sit are zoned for small apartment buildings. A key opportunity for future apartment production!Further south, the Pico Boulevard commercial corridor is lined with strip mall-type commercial buildings home to neighborhood retail, eateries, nightlife, a Japanese grocery store, and light industrial uses. The housing highlights along Pico are three larger, newer apartment complexes. Just to the east of S. Centinela Ave. is C on Pico, which offers 95 homes, including 8 reserved for Very Low Income families. It was entitled in 2011 and completed in 2013, so it obviously could not benefit from the TOC program. But the project did apply for the state density bonus, which granted it a 35% density bonus in exchange for setting aside 11% of the units for Very Low Income families. Moving eastward, just after Bundy Drive rises &Pico. This is a new mixed-use development completed in 2019, offering 100 units plus groundfloor retail. Like C on Pico, it was entitled pre-TOC with a 35% density bonus from the state in exchange for 9 homes for Very Low Income families. Lastly, just east of S. Barrington Ave. stands a 5-story, 71-unit apartment complex with 14 commercial spaces, entitled in 2014 and completed in 2017. It took advantage of the State Density Bonus Law, granting it a 35% density bonus in exchange for 6 homes for Very Low Income families.Despite being within walking distance to the Metro rail station and several bus stops, these developments still had to provide a large number of parking spaces. For example, the 71-unit project had to provide “one parking space for each studio and one-bedroom unit and two parking spaces each two- and three-bedroom unit” - YIKES! Finally, south of Pico and over the 10 is a very large cluster of single-family zoning, with the exception of lots along Barrington and Centinela, which are zoned for apartments. Indeed, Barrington and Centinela are lined with elegant apartment buildings that look like they were constructed pre-2010 - except for one fourplex on Centinela, which was completed in 2018.

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What’s coming:

We dived into LA’s building permit data to see what’s coming to this neighborhood. Within a half-mile of the Metro station, most of the new construction are single-family detached homes (represented by the lightest blue dots). Once we narrowed it down to only include buildings with at least 2 dwelling units, we ended up with a measly 8 projects - one of which is the completed 71-unit building on Pico, another being the new fourplex on Centinela, and another being the 100-unit &Pico. The rest of the new construction includes four duplexes and the 600-home (whoa!) West Edge mixed-use campus on the site of a former Cadillac dealership, featuring offices, residential homes, retail, restaurants, and an open-air public terraced plaza.West Edge, approved in 2016 before TOC was implemented, is slated for completion in 2022 (scroll up to see it under construction, it's literally across the street from the rail station!). Two blocks away, on Missouri and Bundy, is a new 100% affordable housing project for individuals with special needs. The project's developers received an 80% density bonus through TOC, which granted them permission to build 33 additional residences. 

Reporter's thoughts:

All but one of these projects could have utilized the TOC incentives if they were entitled later, which is encouraging!  However, 2019’s TNP has not yet resulted in a measurable increase in new construction activities in rezoned areas. This may be due to the long pre-development timeline - it sometimes takes years for a development to progress from an idea proposal to receiving building permits. The lawsuit from Fix the City certainly did not help attract builders either, since it adds to development risks. But this lack of construction activities may also reflect the limited extent of the TNP’s zoning changes, and signals that more upzoning would be beneficial for encouraging additional projects. Upzoning a parcel doesn’t guarantee construction will happen overnight -- remember the multi-family-zoned lots with single-family homes we mentioned earlier?-- so it’s important that policymakers consider the likelihood of parcels redeveloping into housing, and rezone more land accordingly to ensure there will be new homes. Like my fourth-grade teacher’s motivational poster told me, shoot for the moon, so even if you miss you’ll land among the stars.We’ve got plenty of ideas for how to build more homes near this Metro station. Let’s start with the lowest-hanging fruit: a city-owned lot at Granville and La Grange, a mere 8-minute walk away from the train. The land currently serves as a parking lot for … garbage trucks but could be easily converted to higher-density uses for housing and commerce. Another piece of government property, this one on Olympic, is an entire acre of land used for … electrical cable spools and parking.Beyond encouraging housing on underutilized publically-owned lots, LA’s policymakers could build on the successes of the TOC program to enhance the TNP. Since TOC only applies to parcels where at least 5 dwelling units can be built by-right, it is imperative the TNP rezone more R1 lots near the rail station to beyond this threshold. This way, more parcels can utilize TOC to permit midsize apartments and mixed-use buildings. The large single-family cluster south of the station also harbors enormous potential for more housing, and apartments should not be banned there. Furthermore, removing parking minimums in a neighborhood with great access to shopping, groceries, schools and public transportation will reduce housing production costs (and thus rents) without cutting off residents from their neighborhood. Finally, builders who take on new projects in this neighborhood should also consider 2019’s AB 1763, a state law that augmented its density bonus program by eliminating density limits and parking requirements for 100% affordable housing within a half-mile of transit stations.TL; DR: While the TOC program has spurred substantial housing growth citywide, the city’s limited reforms along Metro E Line have not yet resulted in needed housing growth near the Expo/Bundy station. It’s time to take things to the next level by rezoning more parcels and allowing even more homes in this area!

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