Canoga Park : 42 Affordable Housing Units to Be Available

The L.A. Family Housing Corp. began accepting applications this week for a waiting list for 42 units of affordable housing in a three-building development called Alabama Court.

The development, at 7440 to 7452 Alabama Ave., is being constructed in the heart of the quake-damaged Alabama-Saticoy “ghost town,” labeled the 13th-worst such area by the city housing department.

The Alabama Court project, which is slated for completion in September, involves refurbishing and reconfiguring two heavily damaged condominium and apartment buildings. A red-tagged residence was scrapped altogether and has been rebuilt as a full-time child-care center.

A combination of private and public monies from the California Equity Fund, the city housing department, Bank of America, and Home Savings of America paid for the $4.1-million development.

The rental units are earmarked as affordable permanent housing for low-income families earning between 35% and 44% of the Los Angeles median family income, according to family size; formerly homeless families, and those displaced by the Northridge earthquake, said spokeswoman Allison Lee.

The contemporary buildings will include an interior courtyard, on-site child care and preschool, a community room, a laundry facility and an outside play area.

The development will have 16 two-bedroom apartments, 12 one-bedroom apartments, 12 three-bedroom apartments, one four-bedroom apartment and one efficiency apartment. Rents will range from $275 to $524 a month.

The residents will have access to L.A. Housing Corp. support services, including job training and placement, money-management workshops and parent-education classes, said housing director Vera Fleischman.

Applications for the Alabama Court waiting list will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis through September. For information or to join the waiting list, call (818) 982-4091.