The developer of Mariner's Village, a 981-unit apartment complex on the Marina del Rey waterfront, could set aside 20 percent of its units as affordable housing as part of a lease extension with Los Angeles County.

Los Angeles-based real estate firm E&S Ring - which built Mariner's Village in the early 1970s - will maintain control of the ground lease for the property at 4600 Via Marina through its current agreement through March 2023.  The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to consider terms of a proposed extension of the lease through January 2066, with the condition that E&S Ring undertakes a $100-million renovation of the 23-acre complex.

The renovation, which would be required to occur within six years of the signing of the lease extension, is to be wholly financed by E&S Ring.  In addition to capital improvements, the proposed agreement would require that E&S Ring set aside 196 of the apartments as affordable housing at the very-low-income level, create a reserve fund to pay for repairs to the property, and refurbish each of the apartment interiors as tenants cycle out. 

A staff report to the Board of Supervisors notes that recent average cost of affordable housing in Los Angeles County has approached $400,000 per unit.  Requiring 196 existing units to be reserved for low-income families amounts to $80 million in savings that can be used to construct new affordable units elsewhere.

Exterior renovations to the property will include improvements to waterside areas and lookout points along the Marina del Rey promenade.  The original architecture would be left untouched per the terms of the proposed agreement, as well as all existing trees.

Mariner's Village was built to resemble a small seaside village, according to the Los Angeles Conservancy, with a series of winding paths, knolls, and waterways that wind their way through the property.  The apartments were designed by architects John McKinney, Sam Kiyotoki, and the firm of Kamnitzer, marks, Lappin & Vreeland.

The Board of Supervisors will consider the lease extension terms at its meeting on October 30.