Dense and Affordable Housing Development Slated for Warner Center

A sprawling affordable housing complex is coming to Warner Center.

The Alcove complex at 21300 W. Oxnard Street, proposed by Meta Housing Corp., will offer 301 units, including four manager’s apartments, according to documents recently filed with the Woodland Hills Warner Center Neighborhood Council. The development on Oxnard Street would replace a low-rise office complex and parking.

The development is eligible for a streamlined approval process thanks to Mayor Karen Bass’ Executive Directive 1, which requires city departments to complete the review process for affordable housing within two months. In the past, that process could take several months.

Jeff Bornstein, a Woodland Hills resident who is an activist and president of West Valley Alliance for Optimal Living, welcomed the news that an affordable housing project is coming to Warner Center.

“How can I say no to affordable housing?” he said. “If they are building affordable housing for families who live below the poverty line, or even middle-class families, I support that.”

Under the mayor’s directive, city staffers must issue documentation related to building permits for affordable housing within five days, and two days for homeless shelters.

In September, L.A. city planners said they had received proposals for 7,301 units of affordable housing citywide and 2,990 of those had been approved and 4,311 were being reviewed.

“This is a dramatic reduction in red tape and acceleration of the construction timeline that will move people inside faster and save precious dollars that can be invested in more housing and more solutions for L.A.’s homelessness crisis,” Bass said in a statement last year after signing her executive directive.

Bass explained at that time, “By declaring a state of emergency; by activating the City’s Emergency Operations Center; and by signing this executive directive today, we are breaking City Hall away from its traditional approach that is focused on process and replacing it with a new approach focused on solutions, results and speed. This is a sea change, and that is what we need to bring a new direction to Los Angeles.”

The Warner Center complex will offer units to families earning between 30% and 80% of the area median income, ranging between $26,490 and $125,120. Restrictions for affordability will stay in place for 55 years.

Fifty-nine units will be reserved for moderate-income households and 80% — or 238 apartments — will be put aside for low-income families, according to documents filed with the city’s planning department.