LOS ANGELES — The day that Star Owens welcomed a swarm of dignitaries and TV cameras into her new home in South Los Angeles last fall marked the debut of a bold challenge to the city’s way of building homeless housing.
The 28-unit Avalon apartments — constructed without taxpayer money in less than half the time and at less than half the cost of a typical subsidized project — would house nearly 60 formerly homeless adults and children.
Its developer, SoLa Impact, is the brainchild of Martin Muoto, an entrepreneur who had spent nearly a decade investing in one of the most neglected parts of the city, rehabilitating distressed rental properties and, now, building new ones.
