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Major development projects in the Skid Row area have been coming fast and furious lately. Just a few weeks ago we heard about a Michael Maltzan-designed project from affordable housing developer Skid Row Housing Trust. Then, on Monday, homeless service provider Weingart Center Association submitted plans for a 19-story tower with 298 units of housing.
Yesterday, Weingart returned to the planning department to file plans for an even larger project. This one would consist of two buildings set to replace what’s currently a cafeteria next to the organization’s main building.
The development would bring 407 units of affordable housing and 12,300 square feet of commercial space to the Skid Row area.
Previously, Weingart had been planning a 14-story tower on the project site that would have included 200 units of affordable housing. It’s not clear how high the two structures will rise, but given the relatively narrow dimensions of the lot, which stretches from San Pedro to Crocker Street, they will have to be pretty tall to accommodate so many units of housing.
As Urbanize LA notes, affordable housing developers may be rushing to get proposals in before voters decide on anti-development initiative Measure S in March.
If approved, the measure would prevent developers from building projects like this one. Though the two-year moratorium on most major projects that the ballot measure proposes includes an exception for housing developments that are 100 percent affordable, the exception does not apply to projects that require a general plan amendment—such as this one.