New Boyle Heights affordable housing La Veranda provides a permanent home

Billy La Chapelle, 53, had been homeless for two years, along with his two-month-old and three-year-old children. 

He lived in an RV, but quickly realized that it was not a kid-friendly place. “It didn't really work out because there was no hot water. So we went to a shelter. I'd like to say I have a lot of faith, but I was losing my faith in the shelter,” he said. 

La Chapelle was in a shelter in East Los Angeles for six months before his case manager told him they had found permanent housing in La Veranda. “It was really a blessing,” he said.

La Veranda is a new mixed-use affordable housing facility located near the corner of Cesar E. Chavez Avenue and Soto Street in Boyle Heights. The once-vacant lot now has a total of 76 homes and apartments, with 38 of them falling under affordable housing and 38 supportive homes. La Veranda, which was developed by Abode Communities, a nonprofit affordable housing provider, will serve as a preventative measure for people on the brink of homelessness and provide permanent housing to the growing number of Angelenos with housing insecurity. 

More than housing, families and the 230 people who will live in La Veranda will benefit from onsite resident services and supportive services offered by Abode Communities and St. Joseph Center. Some of these services include helping residents build on their self-sufficiency, foster community connections, support whole-household success, promote healing and recovery and most importantly, maintain housing stability.

On Tuesday, June 18, Abode Communities, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), and elected officials, including Mayor Karen Bass andLos Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis, gathered, both virtually and in person, for a dedication ceremony to welcome families to La Veranda. 

“I would love to start every morning like this, going all around town, cutting ribbons and opening up new housing. It's wonderful to be together to commemorate the opening of this affordable housing project,” Bass said on Tuesday. “We all know how bad the crisis is in our city. This is a beautiful example of how when you come together across different agencies, different parts of the government, the public [and] the private sector, we can all work together in getting this job done.”

In 2023, the number of people experiencing homelessness grew in the city and county of L.A. The number of people experiencing homelessness has increased by 9% in L.A. County and 10% in the city since 2022, according to an annual report from the Los Angeles Housing Services Authority. The report provides a tally of people experiencing homelessness in L.A. County. In 2023, 75,518 people were counted, compared to 69,144 in 2022. 

The residential facility is owned and operated by Abode Communities on a 65-year ground lease from Metro. Metro was a major underwriter, providing a land discount in excess of $2.7 million.  Ray Sosa, Metro Chief Planning Officer, said La Veranda, which is located two blocks away from the Gold Line, helps address the housing crisis that affects all Angelenos and reduces auto use by directly linking Metro's transportation network to commercial and housing opportunities, which helps to increase transit ridership. 

“Nearly one out of every two households in Los Angeles County is cost-burdened, paying over 30% of their income on housing expenses,” Sosa said. “La Veranda is the next step in Metro’s ambitious effort to bring more affordable housing options to LA County.”

City and county officials say the need for housing similar to this is at an all-time high. Nearly 3,000 rental applications were received for La Veranda’s 38 affordable homes. The remaining 38 permanent supportive homes were leased through the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s Coordinated Entry System. 

“La Veranda is an example of how we can blend much-needed affordable housing and state-of-the-art transportation resources in one space to create dynamic economic and social sparks that can jumpstart entire neighborhoods, especially in historically underserved areas,” Solis said.

Solis congratulated everyone who contributed to the building of La Veranda. “We are addressing the acute need of a lack of affordable housing in low- and middle-income neighborhoods and simultaneously planting the seeds for sustainable economic growth by building transit-oriented communities where people can walk from their front doors to local businesses, eateries, and transit stations that connect them to the rest of the county. This is the beginning of a new era,” she said.

The developer noted that the construction of La Veranda was also a deep community investment project. Through workforce development, 50% of the workers that helped construct and bring the facility together were local hires, 70% were part of local apprenticeships, and 22% of them were transitional workers.

“There is no doubt the housing and services offered at La Veranda will have a lasting impact for generations to come,” Holly Benson, president and CEO of Abode Communities, said. “Through our partnership with Metro, we’ve worked to create an equitable, whole community while leveraging our greatest asset—land.” 

This $61.4 million community investment was made possible through $9.12 million in voter-approved City of Los Angeles Prop HHH funding. Additional permanent financing includes more than $17 million from California State Department of Housing and Community Development Multifamily Housing and Infrastructure Infill Grant Programs; a $32.3 million construction loan and $23.6 million in low-income Income Housing Tax Credit Equity investment, both in partnership with Bank of America; and $20.6 million in rental operating subsidies from the Housing Authority of the City of L.A., among others.

Leticia Andrade, a community advocate and resident of Boyle Heights for more than 40 years, said she is hopeful for more facilities like La Veranda to be built around low-income communities. “Keep supporting projects like this in Boyle Heights because we want to be occupiers, not gentrifiers,” Andrade said.