Century Housing is a private, nonprofit corporation working as a financial intermediary for affordable housing developers in greater metropolitan Los Angeles to provide quality, affordable, attractive housing enhanced by More Than Shelter^® social services. As a result, Century has helped create more than 12,000 affordable homes for more than 15,000 families.

At the same time, there’s a 60,000 unit shortage of large apartments, leaving many working families without housing options—nowhere to rent, nothing affordable to buy. As a leading provider and financier of affordable housing in the greater metropolitan Los Angeles area, we at Century realize that the need for affordable housing has reached crisis proportions. With nearly half of county renters spending more than half of their income on rent alone, the crisis continues to grow—now affecting moderate-income working families as well. When working families must pay such a high income percentage for housing, their other, equally-important needs—like food, child care, and transportations costs—suffer. Century remains committed to reversing these trends by providing More Than Shelter.

In October 1993, the Century/I-105 Freeway and Transitway was opened. At a cost of approximately $2.2 billion, it was then the largest public works project in the country. At the same time, the Century Freeway Housing Program (CFHP) was completing the funding of thousands of affordable housing units—with added services like neighborhood contractors’ training, tradeswomen counseling, and job placement—in communities adjacent to the freeway.

These achievements began with Keith v. Volpe, a 1972 lawsuit, which asked the U.S. District Court to stop the state and federal governments from constructing the Century Freeway until its environmental impact—including the depletion of affordable housing in the area surrounding the proposed freeway—could be evaluated and minimized. The case, presided over by District Court Judge Harry Pregerson, (now Judge of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals), prevented construction for several years.

In October 1979, the parties to the lawsuit entered into a Consent Decree, whereby the Century Freeway Housing Program was created, with the charge of creating a minimum of 3,700 units of affordable housing to replenish the housing stock which would be lost due to the construction of the freeway. The Consent Decree also provided a minority and female employment and contracting component, applicable to both the construction of the freeway and the housing program.

In 1989, after several years of direct development activity, CFHP was restructured to become more of a lender/financier than a developer, to provide a more efficient affordable housing development process and to maximize leveraging opportunities with public and private lending sources.

In July 1995, after completing the freeway and exceeding the initial housing development goal, all parties agreed to the privatization of CFHP as the Century Housing Corporation, the only known conversion of a California state program to a private, nonprofit corporation. Century, now governed by its Board of Directors, was admitted as a defendant in Keith v. Volpe and became a party to the Consent Decree, with the responsibility to manage the assets of and honor the obligations of the Housing Program. As a result of these efforts, more than 12,000 units have been developed, making it possible for Southland families to live in housing affordable to them in more than 200 developments throughout Southern California. Nearly all Century-financed units include More Than Shelter services and activities, such as job placement, early childhood development, after-school tutoring, and transitional housing for formerly
homeless veterans.

Century’s role as a provider of affordable housing with More Than Shelter amenities—from transitional housing for the homeless to housing affordable to working families—continues through loan and credit enhancement products, including construction financing, bridge loans, property acquisition and predevelopment loans, subordinate bond guarantees, subordinate bonds, and credit lines.

Please click here for more information about our lending products.