An empty lot at the southwest corner of Wilshire and Crenshaw Boulevards, long used as a staging area during subway construction, could soon become one of the largest affordable housing developments in the Koreatown-adjacent area. Metro has selected nonprofit developer Abode Communities to build 196 apartments on the site, with rents aimed at households earning between 30% and 60% of the area median income.
The project, known as Walnut Crossing, would rise on land Metro has owned since the 1980s, according to LAist. The property was more recently used for construction staging tied to the D Line subway extension. Under the current plan, 194 of the 196 units would be income-restricted, while two would be set aside for on-site apartment managers, according to la.urbanize.city.
The unit mix breaks down into 69 one-bedroom apartments, 76 two-bedroom apartments and 49 three-bedroom apartments, per LAist's reporting. Koning Eizenberg Architecture is designing the project, with the Koreatown Youth and Community Center and TMC Community Capital also participating, la.urbanize.city reports. The site sits within Windsor Village, a designated historic district, and falls under the Park Mile Specific Plan area, meaning the project is subject to Park Mile planning rules and will require additional historic-preservation review, per LAist.
What's Planned Beyond the Apartments
Walnut Crossing's design includes more than just housing units. Plans call for a shared community room, a community garden, landscaped open space, play areas and bike facilities, according to LAist. The project would also include more than 100 underground parking spaces, though a separate account from boutiqueluxuryliving.com puts the subterranean garage at 135 spaces.
A centerpiece of the site plan is a 6,200-square-foot flex-use transit plaza that would connect two bus stops, according to Abode Communities. LAist reports the plaza would also include two bus shelters and extended bus bays. A separate accounting from en.koreadaily.com breaks out the project's nonresidential square footage as 4,540 square feet of community space, 1,500 square feet of retail, 14,700 square feet of open space and 6,500 square feet of office space.
Timeline and the Path That Got Here
Per LAist, construction on Walnut Crossing is expected to begin in 2028 and continue through 2030, with apartments beginning to lease that same year. Once construction starts, the build itself should take about 24 months, according to a project update from Larchmont Buzz, which also notes Wilshire/Crenshaw marks Abode's third collaboration with Metro.
Metro fielded proposals from eight different development teams for the site in 2025 before selecting Abode Communities, with the competing concepts ranging from 112 to 282 homes, according to la.urbanize.city's coverage of that process. The Wilshire/Crenshaw site is part of a broader Metro push: the agency has set a goal of building 10,000 homes on agency-owned land by 2031, including at least 5,000 income-restricted units, per LAist.
Metro has pursued similar partnerships elsewhere. The agency and Abode Communities broke ground on La Veranda, a mixed-use affordable housing development near Cesar E. Chavez Avenue and Soto Street in Boyle Heights, which will include 76 income-restricted apartments, one unrestricted manager's unit and roughly 8,000 square feet of community-serving retail, according to a statement from Metro.
Community Input and Local Reaction
The Koreatown Youth and Community Center is expected to bring knowledge of the surrounding community as a development partner and plans to connect future residents with its programs, LAist reports. Rick Kim, the center's director of economic development services, said the organization offers services for children, families, mental health and financial literacy, and told LAist that more engagement sessions will happen before groundbreaking.
Residents got a look at the plans during a community open house at the Korean Resource Center on September 23. Attendees raised concerns about how the project would affect nearby Lorraine Boulevard and whether the unit mix would adequately serve families needing larger apartments, according to a separate Larchmont Buzz report. Residents also suggested adding bulky-item pickup service, pet-washing stations and additional building setbacks, and some requested limiting the Wilshire Boulevard frontage to six stories, per LAist.
Tracy Park, 43, who lives about two blocks from the site, told LAist she supports adding affordable housing to the area. LAist reports that community meetings will continue as the project moves toward construction. Separately, an analysis from boutiqueluxuryliving.com suggests transit-oriented projects like Walnut Crossing tend to reshape housing demand nearby, potentially boosting neighborhood stability and strengthening interest in nearby owner-occupied condos — though that assessment reflects one real estate blog's outlook rather than a Metro or city determination.
