The city of Los Angeles has launched a new initiative to encourage the construction of starter homes in small lots, offering relatively low-cost homes for sale, and is working to show how Los Angeles can continue to promote Manhattan as it is.
The initiative, called Small Lots, Big Impact, began Wednesday in a design race for architects and others to create innovative plans for multiple small homes in one lot.
The winning design is intended to ultimately serve as a pre-approved city template that can be used by all developers. Government officials are also planning to start selling small, small city-owned lots to builders to builders to demonstrate what is possible with design.
The vacant lot at 5501 Echo St. is owned and will be sold by the city.
(Robert Gautier/Los Angeles Times)
“Angelenos should be able to buy his first home and raise a family in our city,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement. “The big impact of starting a small lot is a step towards that future.”
The initiative is a partnership between the city, public-private program LA4LA and UCLA’s CityLab Research Center, which found that Los Angeles has around 24,000 vacant lots, smaller than a quarter of the housing allowed. The city owns around 1,000 of these lots and plans to sell around 10 as part of the demonstration project.
Today, depending on your neighborhood, many builders of this size often build large detached houses or 3-5 big townhomes.
Due to the high construction costs, nothing will be built as developers cannot make enough money unless they combine adjacent lots to build one large apartment building.
The goal of the big impact of small lots is to provide another option. It’s a smaller and cheaper home for sale than McMansion or a 2,000-square-foot townhome.
“It’s not on the market,” City Love Director Duncaff said.
To get there, designers recommend using innovative construction materials and methods that protect against fires and reduce overall construction costs.
Officials said such designs could help Pacific Palisades return after Infernos in January.
The city council must approve plans to eventually sell the city’s plot. For now, authorities want to sell them to developers who can use award-winning architectural designs to build homes for sale.
The city will use the proceeds from lot sales to fund down payment assistance for home buyers who purchase new units.
According to the city’s housing department, the final project will be between 4 and 20 units, with the building height being primarily 1st to 3rd floors.
Aerial view of the vacant lot at 5501 Ecourse Street. It is owned by the city and will be available for sale.
(Robert Gautier/Los Angeles Times)
Architects are asked to design multiple homes in one lot, but competition organizers want to ultimately have homeowners access to outdoors, natural light and “comfortable relationships with their neighbors.”
Cuff said he hopes the design competition and subsequent buildings on the city lot will show developers who can do the same on current privately owned land. She also hopes to show the public that Los Angeles doesn’t have to resort to skyscrapers to grow.
“I think these projects are going to really demonstrate that living together with a little more household on the site would be a pretty great arrest,” Cuff said.
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