Garcetti, Politicians Break Ground On Weingart Towers In Skid Row

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and other local leaders broke ground Tuesday on Weingart Towers, a two-phase housing development in the city's Skid Row neighborhood that will provide housing services for 382 local residents experiencing homelessness, the mayor's office said.

According to the mayor's office, the first phase of the project is a 278-unit permanent supportive housing project that is scheduled to be completed in 2023. All units will offer supportive services, and 40 units will be exclusively dedicated to veterans. The cost is expected to be $160 million.

Phase 2 of the project is a 104-unit building that will be located a block from the first development. Construction of that building is expected to begin next summer.

The Weingart Towers Phase 1 project received $32 million in Proposition HHH funding, while Phase 2 received $16 million in Prop HHH funding, according to project organizers.

Proposition HHH was passed by LA voters in 2016, and it enables the city to issue $1.2 billion in bonds for the development of permanent supportive housing units for people experiencing homelessness.

The mayor's office said the rest of the funding for the Weingart Towers project is expected to come from Los Angeles County Development Corporation, Pacific Western Bank, an Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities grant from the State of California and 4 percent Low Income Housing Tax Credit Equity. The project also will receive Section 8 Project Based Vouchers from Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles and HUD-VASH vouchers for veterans.

"Weingart Towers embodies everything we promised to Angelenos when they said 'yes' on Prop HHH and empowered us to build these comprehensive solutions to homelessness," Garcetti said. "This development is a clear marker of how far we've come in our mission to deliver the high-quality, permanent supportive units that unhoused Angelenos urgently need and deserve — and is an extraordinary example of the type of project that will make real progress in this crisis."

According Garcetti's office, since the mayor led a coalition to pass Proposition HHH, 41 permanent supportive and affordable housing projects with more than 2,600 apartments have come online, including 15 Proposition HHH projects with over 900 units.

Meanwhile, 58 permanent supportive and affordable housing units with more than 3,500 apartments currently are under construction. In just the last month, ground has been broken on three of those projects, including Weingart Towers.

"Weingart Tower 1 is a fulfillment of the promise we made to our unhoused neighbors to provide more places that they can call home," city councilmember Mark Ridley-Thomas said. "Homes end homelessness, and every Angeleno has a right to a roof, not a sidewalk or park bench."

Ridley-Thomas added: "This tower is a great example of how the county and city of Los Angeles can work together to provide quality housing. If we wish to address the homeless and housing crises in Los Angeles, we must continue to collaborate and build more and more projects like this one in every corner of our city."