A long-stalled Venice affordable housing project could be moving forward

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The proposed Westside affordable housing project known as Venice Dell has seen it all: neighborhood uproar, lawsuits, clashing city directives to alternatively approve and deny.Now, in a battle that has spanned a decade, a major hurdle has been lifted, potentially opening a path to building more than 100 affordable homes for homeless and low-income households on what’s now a city-owned parking lot.Late last month, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ruled the city’s Board of Transportation Commissioners, which oversees city-owned parking lots, wrongly denied the project in 2024 and ordered the government body to reverse its decision.City authorities have cited the obscure commission’s denial as reason for not moving forward even though the City Council voted in favor of the project.Allison Riley, an executive with one of the project’s developers, said if the city chooses not to appeal the judge’s ruling and stops fighting the project, groundbreaking could occur late next year, with the development finished by 2030.“We hope they stop fighting the project,” Riley, co-executive director of Venice Community Housing, said of the city.

“The housing is needed.There is a real human suffering cost tied to endless delays.”In all, current plans for Venice Dell include 120 units , commercial space and parking garages to replace beach parking and provide spots for residents, all bisected by a canal.Whether the project gets built on the developer’s timeline, or at all, is another question.

A spokesperson for City Atty.Hydee Feldstein Soto, a longtime critic of Venice Dell who lost her bid for reelection last week, did not return an email asking if the city would appeal.

Paige Sterling, a spokesperson for Mayor Karen Bass, said the mayor has worked hard to build affordable housing in the city and supports the construction of more, including in Venice.But Sterling add...