Weingart Center’s Newest Permanent Housing Development Shines Bright in CCA White Paper
Rendering of Weingart Towers in Downtown Los Angeles.
“We are providing nearly 700 units across three projects — more than three times the amount of typical affordable housing projects — and delivering on our mission of empowering and transforming lives with innovative solutions designed to break the cycle of homelessness.”
~ Senator Kevin Murray (Ret), Weingart Center President & CEO
On Wednesday, July 6, 2022, Central City Association of Los Angeles released a white paper with recommendations to encourage larger-scale affordable housing to better serve economically vulnerable residents and meet the magnitude of the city’s compounding affordable housing and homelessness crises.
In CCA’s study, Weingart Towers, the Weingart Center Association’s newest housing development in Skid Row, DTLA, was prominently featured as a model example of how to build affordable housing at scale to Meet L.A.’s needs.
The first of two towers — a 19-story, 278-unit Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) development — is currently under construction in Downtown Los Angeles. As stated in the white paper, this project is a good example of how 100% Affordable and PSH projects can be built to scale. In an interview with Los Angeles Magazine, Weingart Center Association President and CEO Kevin Murray stated, “If the average project is roughly 75 units, we are essentially building four of those projects all at once.”
It is the largest of any project to receive Proposition HHH funding, with more than double the next closest, the West Third Apartments (a proposed motel conversion with 137 units).
The second of two towers planned will be an adjacent 10-story, 104-unit building. Both towers will offer fully furnished units, central heating and air, fully equipped kitchens, and window coverings.
These two towers are the only Proposition HHH projects to exceed eight stories and be built with Type I steel and concrete construction. Although not an HHH-funded project, Weingart Center is also planning an 18-story, 302-unit PSH development nearby at 600 San Pedro Street. Collectively, these three projects alone will deliver 684 units.
Currently, a web of laws and funding restrictions is structured to promote moderate-scale projects averaging about 65 units of housing each that take several years to deliver.
“We know we need more housing at all income levels; LA must add nearly 500,000 units in the next eight years, with nearly half of those units being deed-restricted affordable. Reaching these goals requires bold leadership that honestly addresses breakdowns in our existing system and welcomes industry innovation,” said Jessica Lall, President & CEO of CCA.
CCA’s white paper offers industry-backed recommendations for developing larger-scale affordable housing projects to better utilize public funding and unlock more 100 percent privately funded, deed-restricted affordable housing. Recommendations include: strategically streamlining local zoning laws, allowing mass timber construction in dense areas of the city, creating an LA County affordable housing agency and revising public funding rules to incentivize higher-volume housing developments, among other strategies.
“We must continue to refine our approach if we want to help economically vulnerable Angelenos and achieve our affordable housing production goals. Encouraging larger projects that can bring more units online at one time is one worthwhile strategy. Larger projects can be designed in a thoughtful manner that respects neighborhoods and incorporates an appropriate level of services for residents,” said Lall.
LA needs 23,000 more affordable housing units built each year for the next eight years, a large share of which will likely need to be created by 100 percent affordable housing developments. However, the City only approves about 2,100 housing units in 100 percent affordable projects annually (about 30 projects with roughly 65 housing units each). If affordable housing projects continue to be built at the current average scale, meeting LA’s goals would require at least 139 more 100 percent affordable housing projects to be built each year.