A proposal to build dozens of affordable apartments near Venice Beach has been approved, following a vote taken by the Los Angeles City Planning Commission.
After a long and contentious public hearing on May 27, the Commission voted to approve the construction of the Reese Davidson Community. The $75 million project is a collaboration between the Venice Community Housing Corp. and the Hollywood Community Housing Corp. It would rise from the site of two current parking lots that flank Venice’s Grand Canal and would consist of a low-rise complex containing 140 apartments, approximately 7,400 square feet of commercial space, and a 360-car parking garage for both residents and visitors. The Reese Davidson Community will house formerly homeless and low-income individuals, as well as some work and live spaces for low-income artists and support staff for tenants. A coffee shop on the ground floor and a 3,000-square-foot performance space and community room will also be included.
Eric Owen Moss Architects is designing the development, which appears to be a pair of sand-colored, boxy volumes accompanied by rooftop decks, side yards, and terraces. The height of the residential buildings will vary from one to three stories, along with a taller feature to define the corner of North Venice Blvd. and Pacific Ave.
The Reese Davidson Community comes as Venice faces an increasingly dire homelessness crisis. According to the Los Angeles Times, an estimated 2,000 unhoused people are present in the neighborhood of just three square miles. While the pandemic played a major role in exacerbating housing insecurity, data, reported by KTLA, indicates that numbers were already increasing before 2020 with a 57% increase in the number of homeless people in Venice over the previous year.
The Los Angeles Times also notes that Venice is one of the most difficult places in the country to add new housing units. The combination of decreased housing units and skyrocketing home prices form the perfect brew for housing insecurity. Though it seems that adding an affordable housing complex is a logical and just move, the Reese Davidson Community project has been met with a lot of opposition.
The structure’s brutal-esque design has been criticized with individuals describing it as “hideous,” “a looming mass,” and “atrocious,” according to the Los Angeles Times. Additionally, Brian Averill of the Venice Neighborhood Council told commissioners that his group unanimously opposed the project. The group called Fight Back Venice dubbed the project “the Monster of the Median” and has vowed to take legal action, challenging a claim that the project is exempt from environmental review.
Fight Back Venice dubbed the project “the Monster of the Median” and has vowed to take legal action
Other complaints received by the commission from Venice residents include fears regarding the complex’s potential impact on crime, public parking, and neighborhood character.
The Reese Davidson Community could break ground in a little over a year pending approval from the L.A. City Council and California Coastal Commission.
27 Comments
sexy brutalism is good
A dream come true for any graffiti artist(!)
"dozens of affordable apartments"
$75 million?
"140 apartments, approximately 7,400 square feet of commercial space, and a 360-car parking garage"
it's a community project apparently, here's the zoning application https://www.vchcorp.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/RDC-LADCP-Application.pdf , but the architecture looks like military barracks from the 60's.
136 affordable out of 140. Misleading article says "dozens". OK. Now please define "affordable".
Median price Venice Beach $1,950,000.
In LA it's usually people who make 0-80% of the median local income (100k in venice....wow) and equates to 30% of their income. So presumably between close to free and 24k. I think there are probably requirements for number of units that meet the brackets of low income, which are up to 30, 50, 80. So there will be some units for less than 10k a year for sure.
these renderings are giving me an insufferable rash.
Spatially nauseous and it appears to have a circulation axis that is a gutter.
All he did was rotate the building 180 degrees.
Site & immediate context:
Canted stucco wall and windows. Hmmm....
Tenant inside one of the new units, wondering about the day's weather:
Is it really supposed to be stucco? I mean, I know it looks like stucco, but that is a real weird thing to do. If it's so cheap you'd use stucco on it, then I'd definitely be curious how they are waterproofing under it in a way that matches the affordability. Typical stucco on affordable housing in LA is basically code minimum.... in a sloped application though, yikes. Would love to see the details.
^ That was precisely my thought. ("They aren't really proposing stucco like that, are they?") But forget that for a minute. Those windows would have to be operable; as proposed, these are like the proverbial screen door on a submarine.
I'd love to see the details, too, but I'll bet you a hundred bucks there are none-- only renderings.
I mean, I don't like being the person who's skeptical without any reason to be, jumping people without good reason... But it's eyebrow raising for sure
There is nothing real special about operable skylights. Where it's a problem is that you don't get that much free area in an operable skylight, and for this application the possibility of forgetting your window is open and having it rain in the apartment, is probably.... well it's pretty low given that it's LA, but also the sort of thing people are just going to forget and when it randomly rains twice a year...
I live a few blocks from this site. This is a welcome addition of housing units, particularly for the low income and homeless. I applaud the idea of this.
Why this has to be accomplished with a disorienting, seasick architectural sideshow is another question. This doesn’t look like homes for human beings. It looks like dystopian abstract sculpture for architects. This profession is frighteningly out of touch. What about the formalism of this is domestic or affordable?
I love how these kind of elaborate digital renderings depict these hard, bleak exterior spaces as filled with hip people talking on cell phones, as if....if they insert enough Sims into the images, it will make them places that humans will want to be. Hint: no matter how many fake people you show in these images, these kind of urban spaces will still be bleak and sterile.
Is it so hard to do an elegant and economical background building that residents and neighbors can feel good about? And yes, canted walls dumb. Given the canal location, this should be a gift to the street/canal.
Spanish 'social housing'. Yes, that the Mediterranean in the background of the second photo.
Fucking awful. Who in their right minds hires EOM to do affordable housing?
..."right minds" is the giveaway here. Wanting to see interesting architecture for this program at this location is perfectly right. But not even a swing-and-a-miss so far. EOM brought a gigantic hockey stick to a softball game.
have anyone noticed that aravena won the pritzker for his ideas on affordable housing but never again did anything but flashy museums, experimental 3m houses and serve on international juries? odd.
Profiting from social problems...Nahhhh
Once you've won the Pritzker your name becomes a sales feature and fundraising point for developers.
Let's not forget he was heading the Pritzker board before leaving and winning the prize right away, thanks to his colleagues. Not to mention those unpaid internships ...
It’s better than a parking lot at least, and lord knows we need more infill development everywhere. I don’t like the style, but it might be an interesting addition to the neighborhood.
the “eyes on the street” effect...or canal in this case...could have been a more prominent thing. Balconies or some way to Create an intermediate indoor/public connection would have been a better use of funds than stucco trapezoids and weird angles
Especially how the windows are angled up like that makes it feel like “no one can see me” when walking along that canal. Psychologically gives that impression, even if not actually functionally true. That’s a big design flaw and missed opportunity imo.
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.