City Hall is asking a developer building 19 condominiums in the Pico neighborhood to make some of the units affordable after some nearby residents said the project would accelerate gentrification in the area. The developer, Behzad Soroudi, originally planned to build 21 condos in a two-story building at the corner of Virginia Avenue and 21st Street and designate two of them as affordable. In 2014, the Planning Commission asked him to remove two condos to make the design of the building more consistent with the neighborhood and improve the site’s landscaping. Soroudi then elected to pay an in-lieu fee to the City of Santa Monica’s affordable housing fund.

Read More: http://backissues.smdp.com/020919.pdf