Private Student Housing Complex - Part 3

Some students, at least those writing editorials in the Bruin, seem to be having second thoughts about the virtues of a planned housing project. It puts them at odds with the new neighborhood council formed in part to promote more housing in the Westwood area:

Affordable housing is yet again a dashed hope in Westwood.

The Agora, a proposed private 16-story apartment complex, came to town in November, claiming to offer affordable student housing in Westwood. The two physicians behind the project had filed plans with the Los Angeles Department of City of Planning, promising amenities such as a farmed vegetable garden, a teaching kitchen and a meditation garden. While several community organizations, such as the Holmby Westwood Property Owners Association and the Westwood Neighborhood Council, spoke out against the project on the basis of zoning technicalities, the endeavor seemed a noble attempt to bring – for once – a good deal for students.

We should have known it was too good to be true... 

Community leaders appear to have missed this nuance. Both the [new] North Westwood Neighborhood Council and the Graduate Students Association have shown support for The Agora, neglecting to examine the finer intricacies of the project. But when students at UCLA are forced into homelessness for exorbitant rent prices, we ought to hold developers to higher standards before deeming their property affordable – especially when they only manage a price tag that is a couple hundred bucks off university housing costs...

Full editorial at http://dailybruin.com/2019/02/03/editorial-the-agora-is-an-overwhelming-mirage-with-an-underwhelming-delivery/