SPRING ARCH TOUR FEST: Corazón del Valle (CDV)

Photo Credit: Paul Vu

Spring ARCH TOUR FEST: Corazón del Valle (CDV)

Corazón del Valle stands as a transformative model for affordable housing in the heart of the San Fernando Valley. Completed in 2024, this development offers 180 thoughtfully designed apartments, including studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom units. Half of these homes are dedicated to permanent supportive housing for individuals and families transitioning from homelessness, while the remaining units provide affordable housing for low-income households.

Tour Led by:

Cristian Ahumada, Executive Director

Cristian was born in Chile and came to the U.S. in the late 1970s. His passion lies in the evolution of cities, community building, integration of individuals of all socio-economic strata, sustainability, environmental resiliency, racial equity and ending homelessness. Cristian’s primary goal today is to advance new, faster, and more economic models of housing that do not rely on the utilization of Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC). Over the last 20 years, he has overseen the development of more than 2000 affordable apartment units, primarily apartments with support services for people who have experienced homelessness, and households with special needs. During his tenure at Holos Communities, previously Clifford Beers Housing, Cristian has successfully transitioned the organization from the parent company, Mental Health America of Los Angeles, into an independent and strong housing developer, diversified the organization’s income stream, and created a new non-LIHTC department to bifurcate housing production in addition to growing the LIHTC team. Holos creates new, holistic paths for developing communities as living ecosystems. These paths will advance solutions for the multiplicity of challenges ahead — the homeless and housing crisis, global warming, racial and environmental inequity, and the displacement of small and BIPOC-owned businesses. He believes that for too long we have attempted to resolve these issues through disparate strategies and mutually exclusive solutions and this new approach will solve for these challenges together because they are all inherently inter-connected. Cristian graduated from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, with a degree in Urban and Regional Planning. He loves to spend time with his son, Diego, train Tae Kwon Do, play chess, garden, barbeque, and look for UFOs.

Matt Schauer, Director of Real Estate Development

Matt has two primary passions in life: to be in service of others and to improve our tools for better outcomes. In affordable housing development, he has brought those passions together to develop 900 new homes for low-income and formerly unhoused families. He has acquired sites on city, county, and state-owned land valued at $9 million; secured $130 million in 9% and 4% tax credit equity, $365 million in public capital and operating subsidies, and $9 million in grants; constructed buildings utilizing shipping containers, wood, and steel framing; rehabilitated former hotels and single-family homes; developed parks alongside housing; and seeks to incorporate sustainable features in every building, whether it’s reusing greywater for irrigation of edible landscaping to combat food insecurity, disconnecting a building from the power grid by being zero net energy in operations, or reducing a building’s carbon footprint through the elimination of one of the 21st century economy’s most ubiquitous materials: cement. Prior to joining Holos, Matt worked in microfinance providing financial services to the unbanked in rural China.

Architect: Perkins&Will

Building Credits: 

GC – Alpha Construction

AIA CES: 1.0 LU|HSW Approved

Learning Units

1. Analyze how the project integrates passive design strategies, such as cross-ventilation and courtyard landscaping, to enhance thermal comfort and reduce reliance on mechanical cooling.
2. Evaluate the role of on-site renewable energy systems, including solar panels and battery storage, in improving energy efficiency and resilience in affordable housing developments.
3. Examine how Corazón del Valle’s greywater recycling system supports sustainable irrigation practices and contributes to water conservation in a drought-prone region.
4. Discuss the integration of permanent supportive housing with wraparound services, such as the on-site health clinic, to address both housing insecurity and healthcare access.
5. Identify key design elements that promote community well-being, including accessible open spaces, pedestrian connectivity, and proximity to public transit.
6. Assess how community engagement shaped the project’s density and land use decisions, highlighting how local support for increased housing near transit can counter typical resistance to density in Los Angeles.