THE WILLOWS
Project Background
Wakeland Housing Development Corporation
February 9, 2026
Thank you, Mr. Smoot. Good evening Honorable Mayor and members of the City Council. This evening, you will be provided a presentation regarding The Willows project. This is before you tonight by the offer of Wakeland who is providing the bulk of the presentation. There is no decision point for City Council tonight. I’ll provide a brief background and then I’ll turn it over to Rebecca Louie, CEO of Wakeland Housing Development Corporation for additional details regarding the project and information on the project timeline going forward. 1 Background
2017/18 - City started exploring how to address the homeless issues facing Bellflower
2020 – New Hope Shelter opened
Housing Continuum Bottleneck shortly thereafter.
City setting aside and exploring the use of federal CHDO funding for permanent supportive housing
Back in 2017/18 the City, in response to a growing concern in the community, began exploring ways to address the homelessness issues facing Bellflower.
After significant work on this issue and despite the pandemic at the time, the City opened the New Hope shelter in May 2020, partnering with Mercy House to successfully operate the shelter.
It wasn’t soon after that it became obvious there was a bottleneck in the progression of resources and housing available for people exiting the shelter. There were few places for folks to go and take the next step in housing after the shelter. A log-jam ensued and long-term occupants of the shelter increased.
With the bottle-neck, the shelter was operating at capacity with few to no open beds available, hindering the city’s homelessness efforts. As these issues were discussed, Mercy House, recommended and introduced the City to Wakeland Housing Development Corporation to see if Wakeland would be a fit for Bellflower and if they could help by developing a potential permanent supportive housing project and providing that next phase of housing for qualified people.
Taking a couple of steps back and while all this was occurring, and since the completion of the Habitat for Humanity project on Ramona Street in 2018, the City on its end began setting aside and exploring the use of their federal HOME Partnership - Community Housing Development Corporation funds, what we call the City’s CHDO funds for a potential permanent supportive housing project.
2 Background
Established in 1988. Constructed and operate more than 9,000 units.
Multi-layered project funding
Tour of two Wakeland projects in San Diego
Pursuant to state law, the project was approved ministerially in January 2026
It was during those initial conversations and research into Wakeland as a developer of this unique type of housing that the City realized Wakeland had the experience and wherewithal to develop and operate a high-quality, permanent supportive housing project in Bellflower. Real briefly, Wakeland has been doing affordable housing in southern California for almost 40 years, since 1988. Over that time Wakeland has constructed and manages over 9,000 units.
It was this experience, expertise, and willingness to work with the City which led to the partnership with the City, in which the City contributed its restricted federal CHDO funds to a project as a pass-through funding source, along with funds from the County of Los Angeles, a State of California grant, as well as tax credit funding.
In the autumn of last year, City staff and two City Council Members toured two of Wakeland’s projects in San Diego and, without stealing any of Rebecca’s thunder, both staff and the City Council members were impressed with the construction quality, security, services, and upkeep that were provided at Wakeland’s projects.
Although The Willows project was approved ministerially pursuant to state law in January, and no decisions are to be made tonight, the partnership with the City is such that Wakeland is willing to provide this presentation. Again, this is an informational presentation and there is no decision point for City Council tonight regarding this project.
With that, I’ll turn the presentation over to Rebecca Louie, CEO of Wakeland Housing Development Corporation. 3 THE WILLOWS
Bringing high quality affordable housing to the City of Bellflower
4 Our Team
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ABOUT WAKELAND
Wakeland has built:
9,000
AFFORDABLE HOMES THROUGHOUT CALIFORNIA
Overall, our efforts have led to the creation of:
67 AFFORDABLE HOUSING COMMUNITIES
Wakeland has provided affordable housing and resident services for more than:
50,000
PEOPLE SINCE 1998
Our mission is to transform lives and communities with high-quality affordable and supportive housing paired with impactful resident services.
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PROJECT OVERVIEW
PROJECT TYPE
Supportive Housing
UNIT MIX
50 one-bedroom units
1 two-bedroom manager unit
ONSITE AMENITIES
Comprehensive case management services
05.14.2025
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Design Option 1: Refined white building
We previously showed you two renderings – one was a simple white building, and the other was a more “modern” blue building. We’ve been working through some refinements based on the original designs. We still have some work to do and we aren’t fully satisfied yet, so we welcome your input.
High-quality architecture and landscaping.
Controlled access and secure building design.
Cameras, lighting, and CPTED principles.
Designed to blend into the surrounding neighborhood.
9 Design Option 2: Refined blue building
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What Is Supportive Housing?
Affordable apartments paired with ongoing services
Not a shelter, treatment facility, or drop-in center
Residents are part of a long-term housing community
12 Case management and individualized service plans.
Behavioral health connections and wellness support.
Life skills, employment, budgeting, and stability programs.
Residents are supported to maintain long-term housing.
13 Controlled building entry and monitored access.
Cameras in appropriate areas and well-lit surroundings.
Good Neighbor Policies keep the property quiet and safe.
Coordination with police and fire when needed.
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Questions?
Check out our website: https://www.wakelandhdc.com/the-willows.html E-mail us: [email protected]
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