Skid Row Housing Trust to replace homeless dwellings with 151-unit complex

UPDATED, 9:35 a.m., Jan. 30: The patron saint of Skid Row has a new project in the heart of the troubled district.

Skid Row Housing Trust filed plans Thursday for a 14-story, 151-unit affordable housing complex at 609-623 East 5th Street, according to city documents.

The one-acre site is currently occupied by two former hotels built in the early 20th century, both of which the nonprofit currently operates as housing for the homeless. Both structures last traded hands in the early 1990s, records show.

Skid Row will redevelop the single residence occupancy buildings into studio apartments with modern amenities and spaces for supportive services, according to Heidi Genrich, a spokesperson for the nonprofit. Architect Michael Maltzan has been tapped to design the project.

Because the organization doesn’t have a financing plan yet, the project will probably not break aground until two to five years, Genrich told The Real Deal in an email statement.

The new building would span 77,000 square feet , according to the plans, which were first spotted by Urbanize.

The housing trust requested a general plan amendment as well as a vesting zone change to make way for the project as part of its application.

Skid Row manages 26 buildings to house and support homeless people in L.A. It opened its first permanent support housing project for veterans last spring in Westlake.

Most affordable housing projects in L.A. receive financial assistance from the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, a program that could be in jeopardy under President Donald Trump’s proposed tax cuts, TRD reported Thursday.

This story has been updated with input from Skid Row Housing Trust