Affordable residential project cleared for Lake Balboa

Linc Housing was awarded up to $78.7 million in bond financing to build a 194-unit affordable housing complex in Lake Balboa.

The Long Beach-based developer was issued the financing from the Los Angeles Housing Authority Board of Commissioners to construct the five-story building at 17100 Victory Boulevard, Urbanize Los Angeles reported.

The project, approved in 2023, would be built on an empty lot south of Victory along the G Line busway’s bike trail in the Sepulveda Basin, across from Birmingham High School.

Plans call for 194 studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom affordable apartments.

The gray, white, beige and slate blue complex, designed by Santa Monica-based VTBS Architects, would have a rooftop deck, courtyard, offices for supportive services, 1,000 square feet of ground-floor shops along the bike path, and parking for 88 cars.

The project site is on the northern edge of the Sepulveda Basin, poised to see a gradual makeover after a new master plan for the 2,000-acre, federally owned property.

The nearby G Line (Orange Line) Busway is slated for improvements in the next two years, as Metro commences work on a $668-million plan to speed up travel times between North Hollywood and Chatsworth.

Linc, a nonprofit development firm founded in 1993 to serve as “the ‘linc’ between hope and home,” has more than 9,000 affordable apartments across the state, including 700-plus supportive housing units, according to its website.

The developer recently broke ground on a smaller affordable housing complex in the unincorporated community of Willowbrook, and has several other projects in the works across Los Angeles County, according to Urbanize.

In May, Linc filed plans to build a four-story commercial building and a seven-story, 124-unit affordable apartment building in L.A.’s Chinatown, on land owned by the California Endowment, The Real Deal reported..

In April, Long Beach upgraded its zoning to allow Linc to build 72 affordable apartments at 4151 Fountain Street and 4220 Wehrle Court.

— Dana Bartholomew