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Project Combines Housing and Services for Veterans

1 MIN READ

By Donna Kimura

July 3, 2013

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Ty Washington

New Directions Sepulveda is the adaptive reuse of two vacant bui… Read More New Directions Sepulveda is the adaptive reuse of two vacant buildings on a 160-acre Veterans Affairs campus in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley.

Ty Washington

A Community of Friends spent several years overcoming legal hurd… Read More A Community of Friends spent several years overcoming legal hurdles to develop a “veterans only” project. The developer spearheaded initiatives at both the state and federal levels to ensure the project could exclusively serve vets.

Courtesy A Community of Friends

The $62.4 million development utilizes two nontraditional afford… Read More The $62.4 million development utilizes two nontraditional affordable housing funding sources, a Veterans Affairs (VA) enhanced-use lease and a VA capital contribution.

Courtesy A Community of Friends

New Directions, an organization that specializes in assisting ve… Read More New Directions, an organization that specializes in assisting veterans, will provide comprehensive services to the residents.

Ty Washington

All units will be subsidized by either project-based Sec. 8 or H… Read More All units will be subsidized by either project-based Sec. 8 or HUD-VASH vouchers.

Homeless veterans will have a place of their own at New Directions Sepulveda I and II in Southern California.

Scheduled to open on a 160-acre Veterans Affairs (VA) campus in North Hills in July, it will offer 147 studio apartments for vets and two managers’ units. The location will place residents within easy reach of VA medical services.

Residents will also be provided comprehensive services from New Directions, an organization that specializes in assisting veterans. New Directions and A Community of Friends (ACOF), a longtime affordable housing provider, are co-developers.

Their $62.4 million permanent supportive housing development will go a long way toward filling a huge need.

“It will help relieve the pressure on veteran homelessness in San Fernando Valley,” says Dora Leong Gallo, CEO of ACOF, explaining that there are approximately 6,000 homeless vets in greater Los Angeles.

Two vacant VA buildings are being adapted into housing. Developers negotiated a 75-year enhanced-use lease with the federal government to make this possible. The VA is also providing a $10 million capital contribution, which is typically used for the agency’s own projects.

Additional funding includes $20.4 million in low-income housing tax credit equity from National Equity Fund, Inc., and investor Bank of America Merrill Lynch and $18 million from the state.

Even before opening, New Directions has had an impact. The developers pushed for changes at the state and federal levels that have removed barriers to building a “veterans only” development.

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