A property owner with unrealized plans for a mixed-use apartment building in Panorama City is now pivoting to affordable housing thanks to the Mayor's Executive Directive 1.

The project from Babak Younessi of Western Paradise, LLC, filed late last year with the City of Los Angeles for a site at 9701 N. Vesper Avenue, calls for the construction of a new five-story building which would feature 133 one- and two-bedroom apartments atop parking for 35 vehicles.

9701-9707 N. Vesper AvenueGoogle Street View

According to findings included with the project application, all of the apartments would be priced for low- and moderate-income households save for a manager's unit. The income restrictions on the bulk of the units opens the project up to incentives permitting greater floor area than allowed by zoning rules.

Stockton Architects is designing 9701 Vesper, which is depicted in a rendering as a contemporary stucco building.

9701-9707 N. Vesper AvenueGoogle Maps

The project is significantly different in scope and scale than Younessi's last plan for the site, which was wending its way through the city approval process back in 2018. At the time plans had called for a shorter, predominantly market-rate project consisting of 36 apartments above 1,060 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and a 71-car garage.

As with the earlier project, the new affordable development would replace a more than century-old duplex near a future stop on Metro's planned light rail line in the median of Van Nuys Boulevard.

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Looking for affordable housing? Visit lahousing.lacity.org/aahr and housing.lacounty.gov

California's 2023 state income limits

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