Rosslyn Proposal Includes Heavy Mix of Mental Health Services
Eric Richardson
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DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Fur continues to fly over affordable housing provider Common Ground's plans to take over the Rosslyn Hotel at 5th and Main. According to an email provided to blogdowntown over the weekend, the group's most recent proposal for the building would target 50% of the units toward chronically homeless individuals with substance abuse and mental health issues.
At last week's DLANC Town Hall presentation, Common Ground did not offer a housing mix for the building, preferring to instead say that the structure would serve a mix of resident types and income levels.
The group is in escrow the buy the 1923 structure, but the closing of that sale depends on Common Ground's ability to line up the funds needed to purchase the hotel and renovate it. The shift in planned tenant mix is likely a reflection of where funds are available.
The Rosslyn Hotel, located at the corner of 5th and Main, currently has 264 rooms, some without private bathrooms. Renovations would reduce the number of rooms to roughly 230.
On the same corner, the Pershing Hotel is slated to receive a rebuild that would bring it over 100 units of affordable housing, the Genesis Hotel is slated to be expanded via a rebuild, and the Rosslyn Lofts is slated to offer affordable units on its lower floors.
Don Garza on March 24, 2009, at 08:38PM – #1
Skid Row Housing Trust is doing the right thing in rebuilding the Pershing and if the Genesis Hotel is any indication , the Pershing will again be done in such a way to make onsite outdoor amenities for it's tenants . Good for them.... I worry about Common Ground and their willingness to work with the community the arrogance is what turned me off...
Bert Green on March 24, 2009, at 10:40PM – #2
Common Ground specifically said they would not evict any current tenants. However, if their funding mandates a specific income level for their tenants, they will certainly evict a large number of people.
It's also interesting that in different meetings on the same day last week, at different agencies, Common Ground either did or did not quote the 50% figure, depending on the audience they were speaking to. What they likely do not know about downtown LA is that most of the people at all these meeting speak to each other daily. Lying to a community is hardly the best way to get support.
General Jeff on March 25, 2009, at 04:45AM – #3
While I don't speak for DLANC( Neighborhood Council), I do speak on behalf of Issues and Solutions( Skid Row community activism group) and am not in support of Common Ground's effort to purchase the Rosslyn Hotel. They don't have a successful track record dealing with L.A.'s homeless( see Project 50). This building is too big for them to start their own concept of addressing the homeless problem. A smaller, more detailed focus would be much more sufficient.
That being said, The Rosslyn still should be owned and operated by a group that properly addresses the homeless issue, just not Common Ground!