The Gelson’s site development, as a quasi government bonus project, is provided with bonus development rights that allow increasing the number of market rates units by 50% without providing any additional affordable units than would be required for the base development permitted by city zoning. A government gift to a private developer and their investors. Not a bad deal I guess for the developer’s return on investment. However wrong it did go, Pruitt-Igoe was built with the premise that it would help solve a shortage of affordable housing and provide a lower income level of society a leg up and a healthy, more open planned, environment. 

Is it ironic that the un-founded cry that there is a “housing shortage” is used to justify a project such as is proposed at Gelson’s? There are, per California Dept. Of Finance, about 4500+ vacant units in Santa Monica, as well as a declining state population.

Read More: https://smmirror.com/2022/03/sma-r-t-column-the-development-at-ocean-park-lincoln/