With rental rates on the rise, the affordability crisis is only getting worse in Los Angeles—but there are solutions. Among the latest, developer CGI has incorporated an affordable component into its new Koreatown project Mariposa. The property will include 17 affordable housing units, which have been incorporated into the business plan so that the developer can meet its pro forma rents. We sat down with CGI CEO Gidi Cohen to talk about incorporating affordable units into new developments.

GlobeSt.com: What is your vision for this development in Koreatown?

Gidi Cohen: Mariposa will be an amenity-rich building that not only caters to our tenant's needs, but their wants. The goal is to create an environment that our tenants will be comfortable living in and want to come home to every night. We will try to accomplish that by giving them a smart living experience with hotel-like programs to help our tenants with everything they need. From a design perspective, Mariposa will be new and imaginative, yet fits appropriately into the fabric of the neighborhood. At street level, we will have community-serving retail such as a local bakery or coffee shop

GlobeSt.com: Why was this site ideal for an affordable housing component ?

Cohen: We believe affordable housing is an integral factor in the success of our City. As such, we aim on incorporating a certain amount of affordable units in the majority of our projects. Although the Koreatown demographic is certainly trending upwards, there is a large group of very hard working and deserving people at the middle to lower end of the income spectrum, who want to live where they work. We would like to provide for this demographic as well.

GlobeSt.com: Affordable housing is under-supplied in L.A., and many are saying that pricing prohibits the construction of affordable projects. How have you been able to pencil affordable housing into this development?

Cohen: The success of this project was in large part due to the close collaboration with Councilman Garcetti's office. They were wonderful to work with. We were able to create an economically feasible project while providing a greater allowance of affordable units to the community. This would not have been possible without their cooperation and hard work. Mariposa is a great example of what can be accomplished when developers, City officials and community leaders all work together. If housing policies can be discussed and established focusing on the fundamentals, it can go a long way in addressing our affordable housing crisis, as well as many other related issues such as our immense homeless challenge.

GlobeSt.com: Are there other areas of the city or sites that could accommodate affordable housing in this way?

Cohen: We believe with the right collaboration and cooperation between developers and City entities that all areas could incorporate and benefit from affordable housing.

GlobeSt.com: Do you have plans to build other projects with an affordable component?

Cohen: Eventually we would like to increase our social initiatives by potentially join forces with an affordable housing group and providing even more affordable housing options for Angeleno's and the community at large.

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