Executive Summary
4603 Denny Avenue is a four-parcel, 35,082 SF (0.81 acre) assemblage on the corner of Denny Avenue and Sarah Street in West Toluca Lake, one block north of the 134 Freeway and about 1.4 miles from Universal Studios Hollywood. All four parcels are owned by Denny Homes LLC, zoned RD1.5-1 with a Low Medium II Residential land use, and three of the four sit on the City's Lower Income Housing Element rezoning inventory (ZI-2534), which provides a ministerial approval path and a minimum density for qualifying lower income housing.
The site is positioned for an affordable housing developer as an approximately 150-unit, 100% affordable project under the City's Affordable Housing Incentive Program (AHIP), where density follows the buildable envelope rather than the base zone. By right it supports approximately 23 units, and roughly 44 under the state density bonus alone. A prior 11-lot small-lot subdivision (VTT-82739-SL-HCA) was filed on the corner parcels, so a for-sale townhome exit is also on the table. We recommend a list price of $7,800,000 ($222.34 per land SF), positioned above the close-in comp set on the strength of the site's size, its High Resource and DDA designations, and its ministerial path for affordable housing.
Subject Property
The four parcels assemble into a rectangular corner site with roughly 129 feet of frontage on Denny Avenue and about 270 feet on Sarah Street. The corner parcel has been cleared and fenced, and the remaining improvements are older rental buildings from 1925 to 1947 that do not represent the highest and best use of 0.81 acres of multifamily-zoned land in this location. The surrounding blocks are in transition: new townhome product is visible on the adjoining parcels in current aerial imagery.
High Resource + Difficult Development Area
For an affordable housing developer, where a site sits on two maps drives how competitive the project is for tax credits and how much equity the credits raise. This site carries both designations.
TCAC/HCD High Resource. The site's census tract (06037125502) is designated High Resource on the 2026 TCAC/HCD Opportunity Map, with an opportunity score of 7. The state's tax-credit and bond allocation rules reward new family housing in High and Highest Resource areas, which puts this site in the location class affordable developers compete hardest for.
HUD Difficult Development Area. ZIP 91602 is a federal Small Area DDA for 2026, and it remains on HUD's 2027 list published October 6, 2026. A DDA lets a tax-credit project increase its eligible basis by up to 30%, which raises the credit equity the same project can attract.
Ministerial path on the rezoning inventory. Three of the four parcels are on the City's Lower Income Housing Element rezoning inventory (ZI-2534), which gives qualifying lower income projects a ministerial approval path, the entitlement certainty tax-credit applicants need before an allocation round.
Development Pathways
RD1.5 zoning with the Housing Element overlay gives a buyer four ways to build the site, each with a different unit count, timeline and buyer pool. Unit counts are planning-level estimates to be confirmed by the buyer's architect and land-use counsel.
- RD1.5 density of one unit per 1,500 SF supports about 23 small-lot homes across the full 35,082 SF.
- An 11-lot small-lot map (VTT-82739-SL-HCA) was already filed on the two corner parcels; a buyer can confirm its status and extend it across the assemblage.
- New townhome product is already being built on the adjoining parcels.
- One unit per 1,500 SF of lot area, with no discretionary density approvals.
- Height District 1: 45 feet in the RD1.5 zone at a 3:1 FAR.
- On the ZI-2534 parcels, a project with the required lower income share qualifies for ministerial approval.
- A 100% affordable project earns an 80% density bonus on the 24-unit base, about 44 units, plus up to three additional stories or 33 feet.
- High Resource and DDA status make this the strongest tax-credit execution on the site.
- Replacement of the former rental units is satisfied inside an all-affordable building.
- The City's Affordable Housing Incentive Program gives 100% affordable projects ministerial processing and an incentive menu that is most generous in Higher Opportunity Areas, which the High Resource designation qualifies for.
- Density follows the buildable envelope rather than the base zone; an approximately 150-unit, 100% affordable building is the planning concept this analysis prices on, at about $52,000 per unit.
- Program eligibility on a site with prior Ellis Act withdrawals is a diligence item for land-use counsel.
Land Sales Comparables
Two sets of closed land sales frame the value. The first is four South Valley development sites within 1.7 miles of the subject, purchased for affordable and multifamily redevelopment between March 2025 and July 2026. The second is four of the Valley's recent large affordable-housing land trades, showing what tax-credit and bond-financed developers are paying per buildable unit.
Close-In South Valley Land Sales
| # | Address | Zoning | Lot SF | Sale Price | $/Land SF | $/By-Right Unit | Closed | Dist. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | 4603 Denny Ave (subject, at list price) | RD1.5 | 35,082 | $7,800,000 | $222.34 | $333,504 | Proposed | |
| 1 | 12021-12027 Hoffman St, Studio City | R3 | 15,600 | $3,345,000 | $214.42 | $171,538 | Jul 2026 | 1.7 mi |
| 2 | 11143-11153 Acama St, North Hollywood | R3 | 27,000 | $5,301,000 | $196.33 | $157,067 | Jul 2025 | 0.7 mi |
| 3 | 5137-5145 Colfax Ave, North Hollywood | C2 | 16,000 | $3,030,000 | $189.38 | $75,750 | Nov 2025 | 1.5 mi |
| 4 | 10953 Whipple St, North Hollywood | R3 | 17,982 | $3,100,000 | $172.39 | $137,916 | Mar 2025 | 0.5 mi |
| Average (comps 1-4) | 19,146 | $3,694,000 | $193.13 | $135,568 |
Lot sizes, recorded prices and closing dates verified against LA County Assessor and recorder data, August 2026; $/SF is the recorded price over assessor lot area. $/By-Right Unit divides the price by base zoning density (R3 one unit per 800 SF, C2 one per 400 SF, RD1.5 one per 1,500 SF), a planning-level measure before any density bonus. Comp 1 closed with $9.02M of CMFA affordable bond financing. Comp 2 is a three-parcel assemblage. Comp 4 re-traded in December 2025 at $3,600,000 ($200.20 per SF) into an affordable ground-lease structure with a $16.3M CMFA bond loan. Distances measured from the subject.
Every close-in comparable is an R3 or commercial parcel, zoned for roughly twice the subject's base density per square foot of land. At $222.34 per land SF the list price sits just above the top of the close-in set ($214.42, Hoffman, July 2026), and on price per by-right unit it is about twice the R3 sales ($333,504 against $137,916 to $171,538). The value case does not rest on base density: it rests on what a tax-credit developer can build on 0.81 acres with High Resource and DDA designations and a ministerial approval path, a combination none of these comparables offered.
Valley Affordable-Housing Land Sales
| # | Address | Price | Lot Size | $/Land SF | Closed | Buyer Program |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 7008-7018 Baird Ave, Reseda | $3,000,000 | 34,651 SF (0.80 ac) | $86.58 | 03/25/2026 | AMCAL Multi-Housing: planned 190-unit six-story affordable project (La Estancia), roughly $15,800 per buildable unit, LIHTC and $34.4M in tax-exempt bonds |
| 6 | 21010 Vanowen St, Canoga Park | $12,700,000 | 93,218 SF (2.14 ac) | $136.24 | 11/07/2025 | Meta Housing / Foundation for Affordable Housing JV: 395-unit senior affordable community under ED1 and density bonus, roughly $32,200 per buildable unit |
| 7 | 6648-6670 Reseda Blvd, Reseda | $1,700,000 | 62,726 SF (1.44 ac) | $27.10 | 10/02/2025 | Lender disposition after 721 days on market: shovel-ready 180-unit mixed-use project, roughly $9,400 per buildable unit, bought by Pacific West Communities |
| 8 | 7143 Tampa Ave, Reseda | $9,250,000 | 95,340 SF (2.19 ac) | $97.02 | 09/25/2025 | Meta Housing: planned 244-unit six-story affordable development, roughly $37,900 per buildable unit, sold at the full asking price |
| Average (comps 5-8) | $6,662,500 | 1.64 ac | $86.74 | $106.61 per SF excluding the lender sale |
Confirmed per CoStar, August 2026, as presented in the LAAA Team's 6223-6235 Lankershim Blvd analysis. These sites are 10 to 13 miles west of the subject in the western Valley.
The affordable buyers in this set paid $87 to $136 per land SF for large western Valley sites, $107 per SF on average excluding the lender sale. The subject is priced at $222.34 per SF, a premium to that band for a smaller, closer-in site in West Toluca Lake carrying both High Resource and DDA designations, which the western Valley sites do not share on this record.
Key Takeaways
Location designations sell this site to tax-credit buyers. High Resource on the 2026 Opportunity Map and a HUD DDA for 2026 and 2027 put the site in the location class tax-credit developers compete for, with up to a 30% basis boost on top.
The entitlement path is shorter than the zoning suggests. The ZI-2534 rezoning overlay gives qualifying lower income projects ministerial approval, and the corner parcels already carry a small-lot subdivision filing.
The price is set above the comp set, and says so. At $222.34 per land SF the list price clears the top close-in sale ($214.42 per SF) and roughly doubles the R3 comps per by-right unit. On the approximately 150-unit affordable concept it is $52,000 per unit, the measure a tax-credit buyer actually underwrites.
Affordable capital is the deepest buyer pool. Three of the four close-in comps went to affordable or bond-financed buyers, and the western Valley's large affordable sites traded at $87 to $136 per SF over the last year.
The buyer is a 150-unit affordable developer. At $52,000 per unit the site prices between the western Valley affordable trades ($15,800 to $37,900 per unit on lower-designation sites) and LAAA's ED1-approved 2600 S Robertson offering ($53,658 per unit), with a small-lot for-sale pathway as a second exit.
Pricing Recommendation
The list price is set above every closed comparable in this analysis, and the case for it is the site, not the base zoning. At 0.81 acres it is larger than any close-in comp, it carries both a High Resource designation and a federal DDA, and three of its four parcels sit on the City's ministerial lower income rezoning inventory. Those are the factors that drive tax-credit scoring and credit equity, and they are what a tax-credit developer pays for. Priced the way that buyer underwrites it, as an approximately 150-unit 100% affordable project, the list price is $52,000 per unit: above the $15,800 to $37,900 per unit the western Valley's large affordable sites traded at, and just under the $53,658 per unit of LAAA's ED1-approved 2600 S Robertson offering. The small-lot for-sale pathway gives a second bidder pool.
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Also Marketed by the LAAA Team
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