Mayor Eric Garcetti applauded the Weingart Towers for creating permanent housing for people experiencing homelessness. (photo courtesy of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Office)

Mayor Eric Garcetti applauded a groundbreaking on Sept. 28 for the Weingart Towers housing project, a two-phase development in the Skid Row area downtown that will provide housing and services to 382 people experiencing homelessness.

The project is the largest to date in Los Angeles funded by Proposition HHH, a $1.2 billion bond measure to construct housing for homeless individuals. It will provide more than three times the number of units than the next largest development funded by Proposition HHH.

“Weingart Towers embodies everything we promised to Angelenos when they said yes on Proposition 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.”

Phase one of the $160 million Weingart Towers project will create 278 units of permanent supportive housing. It is expected to be complete in 2023. Forty of the units will be exclusively for veterans. The second phase of the project, located one block from phase one, will add another 104 units and is projected to start construction in summer 2022.

Phase one of the Weingart Towers project received a $32 million Proposition HHH award, and phase two received an additional $16 million. The remainder of the funding was provided by the Los Angeles County Development Corporation, Pacific Western Bank, an Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities grant from the state of California, and 4% Low Income Housing Tax Credit Equity. The project will also receive section 8 vouchers from the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, and HUD-VASH vouchers for veterans.

“Weingart Tower One is a fulfillment of the promise we made to our unhoused neighbors to provide more places that they can call home,” said Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, 10th District. “Homes end homelessness, and every Angeleno has a right to a roof, not a sidewalk or park bench. 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.”

Since Proposition HHH was approved by voters in 2016, 41 permanent supportive and affordable housing projects with more than 2,600 apartments have opened. Fifty-eight permanent supportive and affordable housing projects with more than 3,500 apartments are currently under construction.