A 13-acre housing development that received little improvement during the last 70 years has been redeveloped in Compton, Calif.
The old Park Village Apartments has undergone a complete overhaul that included renovating or constructing 65 separate buildings.
Now known as the Jasmine Garden Apartments, the development is one of the nation’s first under the federal Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program.
“Quality of life starts at home and these newly renovated apartments will serve as the foundation for a healthy, vibrant and thriving Compton community,” said Mayor Aja Brown.
The overall $39 million acquisition-and-rehab project was spearheaded by ROEM Development Corp., which completed about $13 million in renovation and new construction. The team rehabilitated the individual apartments, provided on-site laundry facilities not previously available, and made critical infrastructure and security improvements. Designed by Withee Malcolm Architects, the development also includes community garden centers, picnic areas, a computer classroom, and a tot lot for residents. The general contractor was ROEM Builders.
Jasmine Garden is located on a site originally built for military housing in 1942 as part of a larger garden apartment development. It underwent a moderate change in 1982 to increase density, but the site was otherwise only minimally improved in its more than 70-year history, according to ROEM.
Robert Emami, CEO and president of ROEM Corp., said the redevelopment will "offer greater opportunity to the next generation of residents than ever before."
The development, which features 164 one-, two-, three-, and four-bedroom townhome-style apartments, serves families earning no more than 60% of the area median income.
The project is financed with 4% low-income housing tax credit and tax-exempt bond financing from AEGON USA Realty Advisors and Citi Community Capital. ROEM and its partner, Pacific Housing, also received financial support from the Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles. The city of Compton’s Successor Agency to its former redevelopment agency provided advisory services.
