By Garth Meyer
Construction on the permanent supportive-housing project at a former motel on Pacific Coast Highway in Redondo Beach is expected to be done in two months, with move-in to follow this summer.
Named “The Moonstone,” the complex caters to people making their way out of homelessness.
Century Housing Corp. bought the 20-unit motel two years ago, then planning and design concluded last August with a building permit. Kitchenettes are being added to each room and accessibility improvements made. Offices will house a case manager, and a property manager who lives on site.
“We’ve been hard at work, we are nearing completion,” said Brian D’Andrea, senior vice president for Century, based in Culver City.
Each Moonstone tenant will sign a 12-month lease, pay rent and be subject to the rules of a standard apartment building.
District One City Councilman Nils Nehrenheim has a few outstanding concerns.
“They are still the same,” he said, noting that he is waiting on a city ordinance update to bring the 500-yard anti-camping buffer at the pallet shelter to the Moonstone site, and to institute a “No Smoking” ordinance outside the facility, which already bans smoking inside.
City Attorney Mike Webb countered that an anti-camping buffer is likely not necessary, because it is designed to prevent people waiting in line for a spot, and The Moonstone is not a shelter, it is permanent housing.
“There have been many instances where people have camped immediately adjacent to homeless shelters in other cities because they want to be next in line for admission,” Webb said. “The same has not occurred at (Moonstone-like) locations. I’ve discussed this multiple times with city councilmembers, including Councilmember Nehrenheim, during public meetings. At the council’s direction, we continue to research the matter and will respond to any changes promptly with a law that can legally be enforced.”
Similarly, Webb said the city will enforce its existing no-smoking ordinance, as appropriate, and adjust it if necessary for The Moonstone.
The city is also at work to “update our (Housing Authority) program in Redondo Beach so that certain requirements will prevent people from being able to use the facility,” Nehrenheim said. “Pre-screened, pre-qualified, we’re trying to get as many tenants as possible through the city Housing Authority. We think it’ll be a majority.”
Nehrenheim maintains that new ordinances should be written for anti-camping and smoking.
“I think it’s a huge problem if our city attorney can’t get to it,” Nehrenheim said. “It’s going to be very important that these ordinances are in place.”
Selection criteria for Moonstone renters is a “holistic view,” as described by Century, in which factors such as negative credit, criminal history, or lack of references from landlords may not be disqualifiers. “We try to minimize the barriers into housing,” D’Andrea said.
All applicants undergo a background check, including live-an attendants. Violent crime convictions mean denial.
Century has done projects like this for 25 years, including the Villages at Cabrillo, converting the former Savannah-Cabrillo Naval Shipyard Housing. Century has 500 homes now under construction at the West L.A. Veterans Campus in Santa Monica.
“These 20 units in Redondo Beach represent a relatively small, but high-impact development for the local community,” D’Andrea said.
“Century is a great program partner. They run great projects,” Nehrenheim said. “So I don’t feel this is going to present any type of issues long-term.”
The Moonstone is to be managed by Century Housing, with tenant referrals coming from the City of Redondo Beach homeless efforts, and Harbor Interfaith, which manages the city’s pallet shelter by South Bay Galleria.
The Moonstone, D’Andrea said, will follow the pallet shelter’s policy to serve people with ties to Redondo Beach.
“We look at the pallet shelter as a natural beginning in this local housing continuum, that hopefully leads up and through the Moonstone,” D’Andrea said. “We will be honoring a local preference.”
Incomes of residents are projected to be about 30% of area median income.
The case manager will only work with the people who live in The Moonstone.
“20-1 ratio,” D’Andrea said.
The $400,000 per unit project is funded by the California Department of Housing and Development ($5.9 million from the Homekey funding) and L.A. County ($2.6 million in a match).
The project is located at 716 South Pacific Coast Highway in South Redondo Beach.
“It’s been a long road here, but we are nearing the end of it,” D’Andrea said. “In the summertime, we would hope and expect our building is leased.” ER
