The size of a parking slot (8 x 16 ft) can fit a one-bed one-bath unit comfortably, and we’ve got plenty of parking in LA – many of which are saturated in underutilized building types such as retail. Why can’t we just turn them into housing?
Collaborator: Dixi Wu
Why is housing in Los Angeles scarce and expensive? Two factors catalyzed the situation: One is the scarcity of vacant land available for new development. The other is a higher per-unit construction cost for an affordable housing unit compared to market-rate housing.
Vacancies into Opportunities looks to underutilized spaces in the city to unlock new housing opportunities. After research and exploration, eight opportunities around the city were identified that have the potential to turn underutilized space into permanent housing based on space utilization and economic outlook.
The specific asset types are golf courses, agricultural fields, sports fields, soon to be vacant industrial buildings, dying malls, parking lots, and abandoned railways. The project estimates the existing stock for each of these asset types and summarizes their to transform into sites for affordable housing.
Following macroscopic level research, a study is conducted of the physical qualities and implications of each asset type, as well as the best criteria to identify pilot sites. These sites are often already well-located and well-served by transit lines, making them perfect candidates for housing conversions.
In order to best address the prohibitive construction costs, prefabricated units were introduced for land developments and modular utility walls for adaptive reuses. These strategies ensure consistency while providing specific solutions adapting to different conditions.
George H. Zhang 