See the huge affordable housing towers planned for Skid Row

A Downtown Los Angeles homeless service provider has ambitious plans to bring a new multi-structure affordable housing complex to the heart of Skid Row. New renderings offer a preview of what the big project would look like.

Planned by the Weingart Center Association, which provides case management and housing support for homeless residents, the project has the potential to be a game-changer for the neighborhood.

It would include two towers rising 12 and 18 stories, respectively. Together, they would include 382 units of housing and 2,250 square feet of commercial space.

All but four of the units would be set aside for very low-income residents (the others would be reserved for building managers), and because of this, the project will benefit from very loose parking requirements. Plans call for just 32 spaces in an underground lot.

The development also includes 25,493 square feet of supportive service space, where residents would take advantage of on-site case management and counseling. Residents would also be able to enjoy a fair number of shared amenities, like a fitness center, library, game room, and TV lounge.

Thanks in part to Measure HHH, which LA voters approved in 2016, new supportive housing projects aimed at homeless residents are in the works around Los Angeles. Few would achieve the same scale as this one, which looks in renderings much like the many market rate residential towers rising in nearby South Park.

Planned right beside the Weingart Center’s base of operations at the former El Rey Hotel, the new complex would have a contemporary design, with walls of glass, rooftop terraces, and cutouts of open space along the side of the towers. Joseph Wong Design Associates is handling the architectural design of the project.

The new towers won’t approach the height of Downtown’s tallest structures, but they’ll certainly stand out in Skid Row, where lower-slung commercial buildings are the norm.

Of course, that may be changing. Affordable developers like Skid Row Housing Trust have also put forth ambitious plans recently for larger supportive housing projects in the area, including a 14-story development designed by architect Michael Maltzan.

The Weingart Center Association will present plans for its new development to the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council April 17.