Apartments Offer Shelter and ABCs

The gleaming new residential building at the edge of downtown Los Angeles’ business district doesn’t come staffed with maids or a concierge service.

The Parkside Apartments comes with something better: tutors.

Instead of being equipped with a swimming pool or a workout room, the $13-million project--which opens today at Grand Avenue and 9th Street--has classrooms, a study hall and a library for children.

The low-income housing project, sponsored by the city and private developers, offers education as its main amenity. Those leasing its 79 units must sign a contract promising to participate in school programs and to send their children to after-school tutoring programs at least three times a week.

Paid tutors from USC, the Foshay Learning Center and local community colleges will assist the 130 or so children who officials anticipate will eventually live in the apartments.

The Los Angeles school system-run learning center plans to recruit the Parkside children for its kindergarten through 12th-grade classes. The payoff for pupils could be profound.

“If kids participate at least three years and they can get into USC on the basis of their grades, they will get a full four-year university scholarship,� said Howard Lappin, Foshay’s principal. “That’s huge money.�

Lappin was at the Parkside Apartments on Sunday as officials made a final check of the building before today’s 10 a.m. grand opening. His school’s jazz band and color guard will join political leaders and USC representatives for dedication ceremonies.

All 79 apartments--which range from one to four bedrooms in size and go for between $366 and $640 per month--have been spoken for. “This place is a lifesaver,� said tenant Wanda Keith, who had been raising two young grandchildren in a one-bedroom apartment until she snagged one of Parkside’s three-bedroom units.

Little tenant turnover is anticipated, said G. Allen Kingston, president of Century Housing Corp. The tutoring and a companion on-site child-care program will give families an incentive to stay, he said.

Kingston’s nonprofit company, created as the result of a 1979 federal court consent decree stemming from a lawsuit over housing torn down to make way for the Century Freeway, coordinated funding for builder Dan Hunter of DanBerg Development Co.

The city’s Community Redevelopment Agency kicked in the 9th Street site, plus $4.2 million in cash; Century Housing Corp. gave $2 million; and a bank loan and contributions from private companies--which will receive tax credits--paid for the rest.

Some of Parkside’s tenants are families uprooted from homes near the Los Angeles Convention Center where the Staples Center is now being constructed, said David Riccitiello, a project manager for the redevelopment agency.

The apartment building--accented with green slate floors and exterior trim--blends in nicely with upscale apartments and condominium projects that have been built in recent years on the fringe of the downtown business district.

Inside features include a king-size elevator that is large enough to move whole classes of children between classrooms and play areas on the first and second floors, said Ayahlushim Hammond, another redevelopment agency manager.

Balconies outside each floor’s laundry room allow parents to keep tabs on kids playing below--an unexpected spin on wash and dry cycles that busy moms and dads will appreciate.