LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA
SIZE: 63,364 SF | 76 units
CLIENT: Deep Green Housing & Community Development
BDG SERVICES: Architecture
COLLABORATORS: Hatch-Colasuonno Studio, Cero Design (mural artist)
PROGRAM: Mixed-use affordable housing & commercial
AWARDS: ULI Finalist for Jack Kemp Excellence in Affordable and Workforce Housing Award
7th & Witmer
The 7th & Witmer Apartments is a 76-unit, permanent supportive housing development for individuals experiencing chronic homelessness. It is a 6-story, mixed-use building in Downtown Los Angeles that features (3) ground-floor retail units, one of which is a Metro bike-sharing station. Located in an urban infill site two miles from LA’s infamous Skid Row, this project not only provides critically needed housing, but it is also part of a larger urban development to improve sustainable mobility along the 7th Street corridor.
In recognition of the difficulty and sensitivity to which the residents are transitioning out of homelessness and into permanent supportive housing, this building was designed to provide a comfortable, warm, familiar and happy environment. To further acknowledge the streets from which these residents directly came, a collaboration with Cero Design from Puerto Rico was made with a large tile mural in the lobby. The mural itself is a colorful interpretation of the City of Angels and its web of streets, freeways and neighborhoods. As this project is also part of a larger street improvement, the concept of the mural is appropriate, cheerful and recognizable to the Angelinos who will now call this building home.
A game-changer in the development of affordable housing, this project achieved significant accomplishments:
• Delivered a (land+hard) cost per unit of $330,00 (compared to LA’s average of $450,000) while providing commercial prevailing wages to all construction workers
• LEED for Homes sustainability certification that includes the first greywater system in the City of LA that uses both stormwater and greywater to supply toilets and irrigation
• On the forefront of addressing homelessness, this project is strictly for the specific population of chronically homeless individuals who are currently on the streets and not in shelters or other living arrangements
• In partnership with the City of Los Angeles, it is part of larger sustainable transportation / mobility improvements and urban greening along 7th Street