The debate around tiny homes for the homeless has inserted itself into L.A.’s mayoral race in a big way

2022-03-28T20:19:00-04:00

At a time when permanent supportive housing takes years to build and the average cost per unit has climbed to nearly $600,000, the cost of these tiny homes came to about $68,000 each, or roughly $35,000 per bed, according to De León’s office. In his speeches, De León likes to ask, “in what parallel universe” is it better to leave people on the street than move them into various forms of temporary housing while awaiting more permanent housing?

LA Times columnist Steve Lopez visited the second-newest in a string of tiny home developments opened in November in a space that had previously been sparsely used as a parking lot for the Eagle Rock Recreation Center and co-owned and operated by the city, county, and utilities giant SoCal Edison. At 224 beds, it is reported to be the largest of its kind anywhere in the United States and was proceeded by four similar Lehrer-designed projects across northern Los Angeles, all of which are run by a local charity called Hope in the Valley.

A frequent criticism lobbed at the mayoral frontrunner Kevin de León echoes a debate within the architectural community as to whether or not such a confined (each cabin is only 64 square feet) and, in the case of the Arroyo Seco Tiny Homes, shared space truly aligns with a humane vision of housing justice championed by de León an...

LA to rescind approvals for downtown project linked to federal investigation

2020-07-10T19:49:00-04:00

Officials in Downtown Los Angeles are moving to cancel building permits for a $700 million mixed-use development embroiled in a sprawling federal corruption investigation working its way through the city government's highest levels.

In June, Los Angeles City Planning Director Vince Bertoni, at the request of LA City Attorney Mike Feuer, informed the American subsidiary of Chinese developer Shenzhen Hazens Real Estate Group that the city had initiated “revocation proceedings” for the project's development approvals, The Real Deal reports.

Previously on Archinect: "How L.A. corruption kills affordable housing." Image by Christian Gabele from Pixabay

The 1020 Figueroa project in question is designed by a team that includes Gensler, Steinberg, and ABHE, and was approved in 2017 as a two-towered complex containing a 435 condominiums, a 300-room hotel, and an 80,000-square-foot retail podium. The development was set to join a growing string of hotel and apartment towers running adjacent t...

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The debate around tiny homes for the homeless has inserted itself into L.A.’s mayoral race in a big way

LA to rescind approvals for downtown project linked to federal investigation