Homeless people on LA’s Skid Row to move into swanky new tower block fit with a gym, café and art studio

A multi-storey tower block has been built on it Los Angeles‘s Skid Row, which is designed exclusively to the homelessis now open for rental.

The Weingart Towers is a fully furnished 278-unit residential building with a gym, soundproof music room, TV lounge, café and art studio.

This month, the sprawling building is all set to become a ‘self-contained environment’ where city dwellers live on the streets.

New residents will be able to enjoy upscale amenities, as well as appliance-filled renovated kitchens and wall-mounted televisions in their apartments.

The building, which was funded entirely from public sources, will also provide on-site case management and physical and mental health care, designed to help the new residents get their lives back on track.

The Weingart Towers is a fully furnished residential building with 278 units and a gym, soundproof music room, TV lounge, café and art studio.

The new building also includes a fully accessible rooftop terrace (pictured) where people can enjoy LA’s impressive skyline and meet friends

Of the building’s 278 units, 40 are reserved for veteran households.

Each new-build apartment has at least one bedroom and a living area, furnished with its own furniture. Residents can also entertain family and friends at their dining tables and decked out kitchens.

The unhoused will also have access to six communal balconies in the Weingart Tower – and four of them will have access to dog runs.

Skid Row’s new housing includes a ground-floor café with a two-story glass wall overlooking a homey courtyard – as well as underground parking for those with cars.

Residents living in the units can use the building’s computer room and library, where they have access to desktop internet and an abundance of literature.

Developers also hope to build a sense of community among formally homeless residents by hosting movie nights at the cafe for all to enjoy.

The new building also includes a fully accessible rooftop terrace, where people can enjoy LA’s impressive skyline and meet friends. There are also offices and conference rooms in the building where case workers can connect with locals.

A commercial kitchen on the tower’s second floor will also serve the adjacent 600-bed Weingart shelter, giving residents the option to purchase or cook food from the kitchen.

The units are furnished with durable, but not flashy, materials and balconies have been built on each unit to prevent people from congregating in front of their buildings.

The units are furnished with durable, but not flashy, materials and balconies have been built on each unit to prevent people from congregating in front of their buildings. Pictured: Workers building one of the company’s new apartment buildings for the homeless

The first images of the tower, suitable for housing the homeless, can be seen here

While renderings of the interiors have been kept private, Weingart’s previous housing for the unhoused have provided insight into what the individual apartments will look like when they finally open to leaseholders in the coming weeks.

Keith Corley, a formerly incarcerated criminal, received temporary housing through the Weingart Center B7 Bridge Housing Program in April.

In a YouTube video shared by the Center, the overjoyed 68-year-old was seen opening the doors of his very first home and entering the property while leaning on his wheelchair.

Corley said this apartment was the first he had ever owned in forty years – and was grateful that he had finally been provided with security and food.

He beamed as he 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 – is equipped with a television, sitting on a stand with sufficient storage space.

White cabinets with silver handles ran along the entire kitchen wall, which also housed a stove, oven, microwave and a large refrigerator and freezer.

Sitting at his new kitchen table, which is large enough to host friends, Corley laughed as he settled into his new room, “They made everything so easy because I had nothing. I don’t have to steal.

“I don’t have to go out and do anything. I’ll just go home and lie down.’

Although the video did not show the bedroom or bathroom, a separate room with a bed could be seen from the hallway, just off the living room. Homes in Weingart Towers are expected to have a similar floor plan and layout.

In a YouTube video shared by the Center in April, a very happy Keith Corley sits in his new apartment, which has a fully equipped kitchen

He beamed as he 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 Weingart Center Association said of the project: ‘We’re trying to make our little corner of the world look and feel a little better.

“We don’t participate in the developer fee, so we said, let’s just build the biggest thing we can.”

Speaking about the structure and design of the property, Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Mercedes Marquez said ABC: ‘You see the design, it’s beautiful. We’re talking about world-class architecture.

‘A 100% affordable, permanent, supportive housing intended for people with 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 need 100% more housing in Skid Row.”

“I see the tower meeting a great need, a great need for housing in Skid Row and a design that says poor residents are worth it,” he told the newspaper. LA times.

Despite having more than 200 units and modern amenities, many officials believe the Tower will do little to address the homelessness crisis.

Andy Bales, former president of the Union Rescue Mission, shared ABC last year: ‘Mobile homes, container homes, prefab homes – there are more ways we can tackle this crisis and get people off the streets.

“We need to build 10,000 units. After seven years, are we perhaps 20 percent of the way there?’

The news about the rental comes months later a group of homeless people were found in caves in California.

Skid Row (pictured) has become a notorious area for homeless people in Los Angeles

The groups, found in January, were removed from the eight caves along Modesto’s Tuolumne River and stripped of belongings, furniture and 7,600 pounds of trash, filling two trucks and a trailer.

Some caves were decorated with murals, had broken floor tiles and one even had a makeshift fireplace and chimney.

Modesto police said, “This particular area is plagued with vagrancy and illegal camps, raising concerns due to the fact that these camps were actually caves dug into the riverbanks.”

The community living in the caves had a makeshift staircase carved into the hillside leading up to them. Some caves used to be fully furnished with bedding, supplies, food, an improvised mantelpiece, but also drugs and weapons.

According to the June 2023 homeless count, approximately 71,320 individuals in LA County were without a roof over their heads.

The 2024 census took place in January and its results will be announced soon.