A multi-story tower built on Los Angeles’ Skid Row that is designed exclusively to house homeless people is now open for rent.
Weingart Towers is a fully furnished 278-unit residential building featuring a gym, soundproof music room, TV room, café and an art studio inside.
This month, the massive building is set to become a “self-contained environment” that will house city residents living on the streets.
New residents will be able to enjoy stylish amenities as well as updated kitchens filled with appliances and wall-mounted televisions within their apartments.
The building, which was funded entirely from public sources, will also provide case management and on-site physical and mental health care, designed to help its new residents get back to their lives.
Weingart Towers is a fully furnished 278-unit residential building featuring a gym, soundproof music room, TV room, café and an art studio inside.
The new building also includes an all-access rooftop patio (pictured) where people will be able to enjoy the stunning Los Angeles skyline and gather with friends.
Of the building’s 278 units, 40 are also reserved for veterans’ homes.
Each of the newly built apartments has at least one bedroom and a living area equipped with its own furniture. Residents will also be able to entertain family and friends at their decorated dining tables and kitchens.
People experiencing homelessness will also have access to six common balconies at Weingart Tower, and four of them will have access to dog parks.
Inside the new Skid Row homes, there is a café on the ground floor with a two-story glass wall opening onto a cozy courtyard, as well as underground parking for those with cars.
Residents living within the units will be able to use the building’s computer lab and library, where they can access desktop Internet and a wealth of literature.
The developers also hope to create a community spirit among the formally homeless residents by hosting movie nights in the cafe for everyone to enjoy.
The new building also includes an all-access rooftop patio, where people will be able to enjoy the stunning Los Angeles skyline and gather with friends. There are also offices and conference rooms within the structure for social workers to connect with locals.
A commercial kitchen on the second floor of the tower will also serve the 600-bed Weingart shelter next door, giving residents the option to purchase food from the kitchen or cook their own.
The units are furnished with durable but not flashy materials, and balconies have been built into each to prevent people from gathering in front of their buildings.
The units are furnished with durable but not flashy materials, and balconies have been built into each to prevent people from gathering in front of their buildings. Pictured: Workers building one of the company’s new skyscrapers for the homeless.
Here you can see initial renderings of the tower, suitable for housing homeless people.
While renderings of the interiors have been kept private, Weingart’s previous housing for the unhoused has provided a glimpse of what the individual apartments will look like when they finally open to tenants in the coming weeks.
Keith Corley, a formerly incarcerated felon, received temporary housing through the Weingart Center. Puente B7 Housing Program in April.
In a YouTube video shared by the Centre, the jubilant 68-year-old was seen opening the doors of his first home and entering the property while leaning on his wheelchair.
Corley said this apartment was the first he had had in 40 years and was grateful to finally be offered security and food.
She was beaming as she walked into the apartment, which was decorated with hardwood floors, a sleek gray couch, a coffee table, and large windows overlooking downtown Los Angeles.
The living room, which is open to the spacious kitchen, was equipped with a TV placed on a stand with ample storage space.
White cabinets with silver-trimmed handles took up the entire wall of the kitchen, which also featured a stovetop, oven, microwave, and a large refrigerator and freezer.
Sitting at his new kitchen table, which is big enough to seat friends, Corley laughed as he settled into his new digs: “They made it all so easy because I didn’t have anything.” I don’t have to steal.
‘I don’t have to go out and do anything. I just go home and go to bed.
Although the video did not show the bedroom or bathroom, a look from the hallway showed a separate room with a bed right next to the main living room. The homes within Weingart Towers are expected to have a similar layout and floor plan.
In a YouTube video shared by the Center in April, Keith Corley is very happy sitting in his new apartment, which has a fully furnished kitchen.
She was beaming as she walked into the apartment, which was decorated with hardwood floors, a sleek gray couch, a coffee table, and large windows overlooking downtown Los Angeles.
Former Senator Kevin Murray, President and CEO of the Weingart Center Association saying of the project: ‘We’re trying to make our little corner of the world look and feel a little better.
“We’re not in this for the developer fee, so we said let’s build as big as we can.”
Regarding the structure and design of the property, the vice mayor of Los Angeles, Mercedes Márquez, said ABC: ‘You see the design, it’s impressive. We are talking about world class architecture.
“100% affordable, permanent and supportive housing intended to house those who have the greatest problems.”
Pete White, executive director of the Skid Row advocacy group Los Angeles Community Action Network, also described the Tower as “an important feature of what a stabilized Skid Row can look like.” We 100% need more housing on Skid Row.’
“I think the tower fills a big need, a big housing need on Skid Row and a design that shows poor residents are worthy,” he told Los Angeles Times.
Despite having more than 200 units and modern amenities, many officials believe the Tower will barely make a dent in the fight against the homelessness crisis.
Andy Bales, former president of Union Rescue Mission said ABC last year: ‘Mobile homes, container homes, prefabricated homes: there are more ways to address this crisis and get people off the streets.’
‘We are supposed to build 10,000 units. Maybe we’re 20 per cent of the way there after seven years?’
News of the lease comes months after a group of homeless people were found living in caves in California.
Skid Row (pictured) has become a notorious area for homeless people in Los Angeles.
The groups, who were found in January, were taken from eight caves along the Tuolumne River in Modesto and emptied of belongings, furniture and 7,600 pounds of trash, filling two trucks and a trailer.
Some of the caves were decorated with murals, had broken tiles, and one even had a makeshift fireplace with a chimney.
The Modesto Police Department said, “This particular area has been plagued by vagrancy and illegal encampments, which has raised concerns due to the fact that these encampments were actually caves dug into the banks of the river.”
The community living in the caves had dug makeshift stairs into the hillside leading to them. Some of the caves were often fully stocked with bedding, belongings, food, a makeshift mantelpiece, but also drugs and weapons.
According to the June 2023 homeless count, about 71,320 people did not have a roof over their heads in Los Angeles County.
The 2024 count was carried out in January and its results will be announced soon.
