SANTA MONICA—Starting January 18, the city of Santa Monica is opening applications for a new housing opportunity for households displaced from Santa Monica in the 1950s and 1960s due to urban renewal projects. The new Below Market Housing (BMH) pilot for historically displaced households is looking to match families and/or their descendants displaced due to the development of the Civic Auditorium in the Belmar Triangle neighborhood or the I-10 Highway in the Pico neighborhood with affordable housing units in Santa Monica.
“We created this program in the earnest hope that former Santa Monica residents take advantage of this new affordable housing opportunity,” said Mayor Sue Himmelrich. “If you know community members who were displaced in the 1950s and 1960s, we ask for your assistance in sharing the pilot information so we can identify as many candidates as possible.”
The pilot will give priority in city-funded housing and inclusionary housing for up to 100 applicants from households or descendants of households (children or grandchildren) who were displaced. Applications will be accepted from January 18 thru February 22.
If more than 100 households apply within the first month of the application period, a lottery will be conducted. After the first 30 days of the enrollment period if less than 100 applications have been received then the enrollment period will be extended and households that applied within the first 30 days, and households that apply after February 22, up to 100 applicants, will be reviewed for eligibility in the order they applied.
For this inaugural period of the program, Santa Monica is here to assist applicants given that documentation from seventy years ago may be available in different forms.
To learn more about the pilot and the required documentation, and to apply for the below market housing list, visit https://www.santamonica.gov/process-explainers/how-to-apply-for-below-market-housing-for-historically-displaced-households.
For questions about the program, email housing@santamonica.gov.
