An ambitious $120 million project that will create 151 affordable housing units for artists, an 86-seat theater, art galleries, rehearsal studios, and nonprofit arts office space has broken ground in Hollywood, California.
The development is a collaboration between The Actors Fund, a human services organization for people in the performing arts and entertainment, and longtime affordable housing developer Thomas Safran & Associates.“The Actors Fund has been supporting the entertainment community in Los Angeles for over a century,” said actress Annette Bening, vice chair of the organization. “The Hollywood Arts Collective allows us to significantly deepen our commitment to our colleagues in the Hollywood creative community.”
The Hollywood Arts Collective will consist of two buildings: The Arts Building, designed by HGA, and The Residential Building, designed by Withee Malcolm Architects.
The project is the culmination of more than 10 years of planning and development.
The Actors Fund, in partnership with the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, conducted a survey of the local arts community in 2012 to determine affordable housing needs, finding an overwhelming majority of those surveyed calling for affordable housing for working artists who are increasingly priced out of the Los Angeles area. Both individual artists and arts organizations cited the overwhelming need for more affordable rehearsal and presentation space.
“We are proud to partner with The Actors Fund on this incredible opportunity to provide 151 units of much-needed affordable housing in the heart of Hollywood,” said Jordan Pynes, president of Thomas Safran & Associates. “With the support of affordable rents and social services provided by The Actors Fund, we plan to create a creative, collaborative community for local artists to thrive in.”
The development, which will replace a city parking lot, has amassed nearly $100 million in public support and conventional financing such as the city of Los Angeles, the state of California, the Los Angeles Development Fund, and federal low-income housing tax credit equity from Bank of America. The Actors Fund expects to raise at least $20 million philanthropically in support of the project as part of a public capital campaign, with $5 million already raised toward that goal. Officially under construction, the project is expected to open in 2024.
Since mid-March 2020, The Actors Fund has provided more than $19 million in direct financial assistance to more than 15,000 people in need in performing arts and entertainment, while continuing to provide services, including affordable housing opportunities, health care and insurance counseling, senior care, and secondary career development.
“Access to affordable housing is critical to a thriving creative community in Hollywood and the city of Los Angeles,” said Keith McNutt, executive director of The Actors Fund Western Region. “With gentrification and rising rents in neighborhoods traditionally accessible to workers in the entertainment and arts community, The Hollywood Arts Collective is an urgent and timely need. This project will allow professionals in our industry to live, work, and perform in the center of creativity in Los Angeles. Their presence, their work, will be an engine of the continued arts-based revitalization of Hollywood.”
