About Us

The Altadena Rapid Housing Solution (ARHS) is an initiative of the Accelerated Housing and Transit Development Project. the Accelerated Housing and Transit Development Project is a fiscally sponsored project of Community Partners, which is a registered public charity, exempt from Federal income taxation under Sections 501(c)(3) and 509(a)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code. As such, ARHS activities fall under the project oversight, accountability, and responsibility of Community Partners.

Accelerated Housing and Transit Development (AHTD) focuses on underinvested communities in Los Angeles County. The project leverages existing studies conducted by local communities, public agencies, and the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) and research by Accelerating Community Partners to formulate a sustainable business model. AHTD’s mission includes enhancing infrastructure, preserving homeownership, and fostering generational wealth by converting single-family homes into courtyard fourplexes, creating additional income opportunities for homeowners.

Founder

Michael Anderson is a distinguished architect, author, and visionary leader with over 45 years of experience in architecture, urban planning. and economic development. A former board member of the American Insitute of Architects (AIA), he has consistently championed inclusive, community-centered design and development strategies.

Advisory Board Members

Michael Banner

President and CEO Los Angeles LDC, Inc. | Former Chair of ULI Los Angeles

Mia Lehrer

President and Founder of Studio MLA Architects

Christina Long

Deputy Executive Officer at LA Metro

Stephanie Graves

CEO of Lee Andrews Group

Vanessa Delgado

Principal Azure Development

Accelerating Community Partners (ACP)

Mission Statement

Accelerating Community Partners (ACP) transforms how housing and infrastructure are financed and delivered to unlock the economic potential of underserved communities. Our Accelerated Housing & Transit Development (AHTD) Initiative integrates affordable and prefabricated housing, climate-smart infrastructure, and transit-oriented growth to generate wealth, stabilize families, and strengthen civic revenues. After the Eaton Fire, we applied AHTD to create the Altadena Rapid Housing Solution (ARHS), enabling families to return to their properties quickly so they could rebuild and restore neighbor-to-neighbor living. ACP demonstrates that inclusive, climate-resilient development can expand opportunities, prevent displacement, and provide governments with a replicable model for equitable and sustainable growth.

Our Story

After decades of leading visioning and economic development studies for underinvested communities of color, ACP co-founder Michael Anderson asked: What if Los Angeles addressed its 800,000-unit housing shortage as a countywide modernization program—a large-scale investment in people and place that also generates new revenues?

This question led to the creation of the Accelerated Housing & Transit Development (AHTD) Initiative, a decade-long $150 billion effort modeled after the $30 billion LAX Modernization Program.

Designed as “economic chemistry” to lift communities out of poverty while prioritizing existing residents and small businesses, AHTD delivers impact at every scale: small projects like converting homes into courtyard fourplexes to help existing families be part of the housing solution; medium projects such as rebuilding parks, streets, and civic facilities; and large projects including utilities, stormwater systems, and land-use transformation.

In 2023, we brought together McKinsey & Company to work with the California Community Foundation and Neighborhood Housing Services as pro bono clients for the AHTD Economic Impact and Risk Mitigation Assessment, projecting that AHTD could generate $35–$40 billion in property taxes, $8 billion in sales tax, and 400,000 new transit riders by 2034.

Organization Team & Roles

Accelerating Community Partners (ACP) brings together architects, real estate developers, urban planners, financial analysts, PR experts, and community advocates—united by a mission to improve quality of life in underinvested communities.

Our architects have led projects ranging from first-time homebuyer housing and an Altadena fire rebuild with two ADUs to major community facilities, including LAUSD schools, the Dollarhide Community Center in Compton, the NHS Center for Sustainable Housing, and the Grand Entrance at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science. The portfolio also spans large-scale developments such as Intuit Dome Plaza and Retail, the Tom Bradley International Terminal, the LAX APM Terminal Connection, and research towers for Cedars-Sinai and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

Beyond design, ACP has successfully secured public funding for projects like the Century Boulevard Beautification in Inglewood and authored community visions and transit-oriented development studies for LA Metro. Our team draws from proven national and global models—including the City of Santa Monica Sustainable Water Infrastructure Project, Singapore’s economic development strategies, and Amsterdam 2040—aligning them with local and county strategic plans across public works, Metro, LADWP, and Regional Planning.