Vendome Palms Apartments

Vendome Palms was recently awarded a Multifamily Excellence Award by the Los Angeles Housing Department!

(This article originally appeared at http://www.nalhfa.org/)

The project is a complete gut-rehabilitation of an existing 43 unit masonry apartment building originally constructed in 1926. The rehabilitation included replacement of all major building systems that created 36 efficiency units, home to homeless individuals with mental disabilities earning at or below 30% AMI. The project construction was completed in December 2011 and on March 22, 2012 the Developer Community of Friends hosted a grand opening ceremony.

The Vendome Palms Apartments complex is located in the Silver Lake Neighborhood of Los Angeles approximately 4 miles north west of downtown. It is located on the corner of Sunset Boulevard adjacent uses include a mix of multi-family and single family housing and commercial uses along Sunset Boulevard. Within one block of the site along Sunset Boulevard residents can benefit from a pharmacy, laundromat, three restaurants, a convenience store, café, and a hair salon. Silver Lake is one of the most socioeconomically and ethnically diverse neighborhoods in the City of Los Angeles it is known as an eclectic gathering of hipsters and the creative class. Numerous community meetings were held with the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council to gain community acceptance of this project.

Local Amenities include bus stops less than a block from the building where routes connect residents to job centers and services via Sunset Boulevard and Santa Monica Boulevard. The Bellevue Community Center and park is located within a half mile of the site. The park has jogging trails, play equipment, baseball fields and basketball courts. The Community Center hosts a variety of classes and community meetings. Homeless Health Care LA (HHCLA) is located about a mile from the site. HHCLA provides residents a wide variety of mental health services, including medication prescriptions as well as group and individual therapy. HHCLA also provides on-site services at Vendome Palms. Also located within a mile of the site is Temple Community Hospital which residents can access for emergency medical services. The Silver Sun Pharmacy is located a block east of the site. Residents will be able to fill prescriptions with a very short walk. The Edendale Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library is located within one mile of the site along Sunset Boulevard and is easily bus accessible. Circle H Market is a full service neighborhood grocer located within a half mile of the site.

The Developer is A Community of Friends (ACOF). Founded in 1988, ACOF is a nonprofit affordable housing developer for people with special needs. Their mission is to end homelessness through the provision of quality permanent supportive housing for people with mental illness.