Dive Brief:
- A developer called LocalConstruct thinks it has an idea for how to bring density – and therefore more housing – to a Los Angeles neighborhood with a project that is not a transplanted Eastern design.
- The project, called Blackbirds, is in the Echo Park neighborhood and is being built at 21 units per acre under a 2005 ordinance permitting small-lot development, but it comprises separate buildings with no common walls, a departure from high-density development elsewhere in the country.
- The design is intended to comply with L.A. sensibilities: It uses pitched roofs and cement-board siding that looks like wood to fit in with the surrounding neighborhood of cottages from the 1930s and 1940s, LocalConstruct's founders say.
Dive Insight:
Casey Lynch and Mike Brown, who founded the company, both live in Echo Park, so they believe they have a feel for what will sell, including minimal attached parking. Their concept aims to succeed by designing high-density housing for its location rather than imposing an outside concept on the area.