Historic Buildings on VA West Los Angeles Campus Offer 120 New Apartments, With Plans for More To Come.
The Department of Veterans Affairs celebrated the unveiling of two newly renovated historic buildings at the West Los Angeles VA Campus that will provide housing for homeless and at-risk veterans as reported by Urbanize Los Angeles. Buildings 205 and 208 offer a combined 120 apartments, complete with amenities such as computer rooms, fitness facilities, and laundry services. The project, developed by Shangri-La Construction and operated by Step-Up on Second, is part of the VA’s ongoing efforts to provide permanent supportive housing for veterans. Veterans began to move into the housing starting in April.
As stated on the Shangri-La Construction website, “The rehabilitation of Building 205 on the historic Veterans Affairs West Los Angeles Campus provides safe, quality housing to accommodate a program that includes transitional housing for homeless Veterans. The project is funded by low-income housing tax credits. The development spans 56,000 square feet throughout two levels. It includes 68 apartments, a community kitchen, a laundry room, a reading room, and an activity room that can also serve as a counseling area and community room. During the course of the renovation, seismic corrections, historic rehabilitation, safety improvements, and architectural renovations were performed. This project is LEED Gold.”
Tanya Bradsher, VA’s Chief of Staff said in a PR statement that “With these new buildings, 120 Veterans who are experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness will have a safe, stable place to call home – and there’s nothing more important than that. But there is much more work to do. We at VA will not rest until we end Veteran homelessness, in Los Angeles and all across America.”
The VA has also signed lease agreements for an additional 264 units of permanent supportive housing to be added to the campus between now and 2025. These developments are part of a larger plan to increase permanent supportive housing on the West Los Angeles VA Campus. With a goal of at least 1,200 supportive housing units to be built by 2030, legislation signed into law last year could provide $350 million in funding to achieve this.
