NPR

Rebroadcast: Inside one developer's big bet on affordable housing in Los Angeles

A California entrepreneur says he's building affordable homes in South Central LA at half the usual cost. How? By saying no to public funding.
(Courtesy of SoLa Impact)

This rebroadcast originally aired on October 11, 2022.

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Housing costs too much in many American cities. But in LA, one developer says he’s got a solution.

“We’ve been able to build high quality, affordable housing for $250,000 per unit,” Martin Muoto, founder of SoLa Impact, says. “Which is roughly half of what many traditional housing developers, particularly those using government funding, have been able to do.”

How does he do it?

(SoLa Impact)

“Using private capital and free market forces, you’re really able to bring innovation to the process,” Muoto says.

And he claims, no gentrification.

“We’ve been able to keep residents successfully housed, many of whom have been formerly homeless,” he adds.

(SoLa Impact)

Today, On Point: Building affordable housing affordably.

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, founder and CEO of , which works with investors

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