36-Unit Crenshaw Project By SoLa Impact Receives Approvals

The Los Angeles planning department has given approvals to a 36-unit, five-story project slated for 4101 S. Somerset Dr. in the Crenshaw neighborhood, according to a determination letter filed by the city last week. The project applicant is listed as SIOF 3 Properties LLC, the owner of the project site and an affiliate of Los Angeles real estate investor and developer SoLa Impact.

Approved as a Tier-3 project under the city’s transit-oriented communities program, the Somerset Drive development will move forward with a 50-percent density increase on top of the project’s 23-unit base density, as well as a decreased parking minimum of 18 units. The project will rise within half a mile of the Crenshaw Boulevard and Stocker Street intersection, where the Metro Crenshaw/LAX line is under construction, and will set aside four units for extremely low-income households. The project has also received approvals for additional TOC incentives including a 11-foot height increase to 56-feet.

Development plans call for the demolition of an existing four-unit multifamily property at the project site to make way for 24 studios, ranging in size from 283 square feet to 355 square feet, and 12 two-bedrooms, ranging in size 644 square feet to 831 square feet. The project, which SoLa Impact said in application filings will suit young professionals and families, will also have a courtyard, rooftop deck, and fitness room, among other amenities.

SoLa Impact, which manages a lineup of social impact funds and counts about 1,500 units in its development pipeline, often specializes in projects utilizing the federal Opportunity Zone program, which offers tax advantages to long-term investors in certain designated, economically distressed areas. Much of the Crenshaw neighborhood, including 4101 S. Somerset Dr., is in an Opportunity Zone.

The Somerset project will have the minimum 18 parking spaces, along with 38 bicycle spaces and 3,376 square feet of open space.

SIOF 3 Properties, which is registered to the office address of SoLa Impact, acquired the project site for $1.3 million, according to transaction recorded with the county in 2019.