The six-story affordable housing complex splashed in pink and green that opened at Santa Monica Boulevard and Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles is more than just another recent project. It marks a new chapter for the city's most contentious housing policy.
The complex used funds from the city's debated Measure ULA transfer tax, even as critics push to scale back the so-called mansion tax. The project, called the Santa Monica & Vermont Apartments, is the first ground-up development to open using revenue from the levy on high-value property sales and is a model of the kind of transit-oriented, affordable housing experts say the city needs.
Developed by the Little Tokyo Service Center and the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the project includes 185 income-restricted apartments above roughly 20,000 square feet of community-serving space next to a busy subway stop in East Hollywood. Financing blended Measure ULA dollars with tax credits, vouchers and public land to push the long-stalled project into construction.
“Affordable, safe and dignified homes with access to supportive services and high-quality transit” are now opening to tenants thanks to ULA funds, Takao Suzuki, co-executive director of Little Tokyo Service Center, said at the grand opening ceremony.
The project arrives as Los Angeles leans on the more than $1.1 billion in revenue ULA has amassed since its inception to address a housing shortage defined by tight vacancies and high rents, with apartment vacancy at about 5.7% and average monthly rents roughly 32% above the national level, according to CoStar data.
It also underscores a broader push to build housing on public land near transit, with the LA Metropolitan Transportation Authority aiming to complete 10,000 units on city land by 2031.
The apartments mark a turning point for a tax that has been both a funding source and a flashpoint since taking effect in April 2023. The tax remains under pressure from developers and property owners who argue increasing the transfer costs to 5.5% from 4% on high-priced real estate has slowed dealmaking and pushed investment elsewhere. City leaders are weighing potential changes, but any amendment would require voter approval, leaving the program intact for now as more projects line up for funding.
Funding and future pipeline
The Santa Monica & Vermont Apartments comprise studios to three-bedroom units for households earning 50% or less of the area's median annual income of around $64,000, with about half reserved as supportive housing for people exiting homelessness.
On-site services from locally based provider Housing Works, along with a health clinic and community space, are designed to stabilize residents while activating the ground floor.
Public financing stitched together multiple layers, including Measure ULA, Proposition HHH, Section 8 vouchers and state housing grants, alongside private lending support. The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles committed roughly $49.5 million in rental assistance to support formerly homeless tenants moving into the building.
"This project reflects our commitment to expanding affordable housing for Angelenos while fostering vibrant communities close to public transit," said a statement from Housing Authority President and CEO Lourdes Castro Ramirez.
The development adds to Little Tokyo Service Center’s growing portfolio of roughly 1,200 affordable units across Los Angeles. It also represents one of Metro’s most ambitious joint development efforts to date, transforming land that had long been used for surface parking into housing directly connected to transit.
Before construction began, the site had sat underused for decades despite the presence of the Los Angeles Metro Red Line station below it. A patchwork of parking lots and a single-story restaurant defined the block until the property was assembled and cleared in 2021.
Measure ULA funds have already been used to restart nine previously stalled housing developments with about $54 million through an accelerator program, including multimillion-dollar infusions into projects like Alveare and Grace Villas. Santa Monica & Vermont is the first to reach completion under the tax, offering a proof point as policymakers debate its future.
More funding is already in the pipeline, with Los Angeles officials weighing a plan to deploy roughly $361 million in Measure ULA revenue across 80 projects totaling more than 4,000 units — the largest single allocation of the tax to date.
The funding, much of it aimed at preserving existing rent-restricted housing in high-cost, transit-rich neighborhoods like Downtown, Hollywood and the Westside, is expected to roll out in phases as deals secure tax credits and financing, meaning closings — and new construction — will likely stretch into late 2026 and 2027 rather than arrive all at once.