*For years, Los Angeles has become a national symbol of America’s housing affordability crisis, with soaring rents, empty office buildings, and one of the nation’s largest homeless populations dominating headlines. Now, two ambitious downtown redevelopment projects—supported by Mayor Karen Bass‘ broader housing strategy and featuring work by acclaimed architect Sir David Adjaye—could mark a significant turning point in the city’s effort to create more places for Angelenos to live.
Together, the projects would bring more than 2,000 new homes to downtown Los Angeles, including hundreds of affordable apartments aimed at working families. While neither development alone will solve the city’s housing crisis, they represent one of the largest investments in downtown housing in recent years.
Los Angeles County continues to have the nation’s largest homeless population, while housing costs remain among the highest in America—making the creation of affordable housing one of the city’s most urgent priorities.
From Empty Offices to Affordable Homes
One of the most dramatic transformations will take place at the aging World Trade Center at 350 S. Figueroa Street.
The 400,000-square-foot office complex will be converted into “Sky Castle,” a 512-unit affordable housing community through a roughly $200 million partnership between Los Angeles-based developers Jamison and Kennedy Wilson.
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Construction is expected to begin in August, with the first phase creating 241 affordable apartments for families earning between 30% and 80% of the area’s median income. A second phase will add another 271 units.
Developers say the community will feature one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments with modern interiors and shared resident amenities.
Perhaps most eye-catching are the projected rents.
One-bedroom apartments are expected to start at approximately $937 per month, while three-bedroom units could rent for about $1,300—prices rarely seen in today’s Los Angeles rental market.
The World Trade Center conversion is also the first phase of a broader Jamison-Kennedy Wilson partnership that aims to create roughly 4,000 affordable housing units across Los Angeles through new construction and adaptive reuse.
A $2 Billion Bet on Downtown Los Angeles
Just blocks away, the Los Angeles City Council has approved another transformative project.
The $2 billion Fourth & Central development will convert former industrial property near Skid Row and the Arts District into a mixed-use neighborhood featuring 1,521 new homes.
Plans call for 572 condominiums, 949 apartments and at least 262 affordable housing units, along with retail, restaurants, offices and public gathering spaces designed to create a walkable downtown community.
The development will also include supportive housing services through Downtown Women’s Center, providing residents with resources such as case management, health services and workforce development.
David Adjaye Leaves His Mark on Downtown LA
Adding national significance to the project is Sir David Adjaye, the celebrated Ghanaian-British architect behind the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.
Adjaye designed two of Fourth & Central’s signature buildings, including its 30-story residential tower.
For many, Adjaye’s name is synonymous with one of America’s most important cultural landmarks celebrating Black history and achievement. His involvement brings international design prestige to one of Los Angeles’ most ambitious redevelopment efforts.
Part of Mayor Bass’ Housing Strategy
Although both developments are privately financed, they align closely with Mayor Karen Bass’ broader effort to increase affordable housing and address homelessness.
Since taking office, Bass has emphasized that Los Angeles cannot reduce homelessness without dramatically expanding the city’s housing supply. Her administration has supported adaptive reuse projects that transform underused commercial buildings into homes located near jobs, public transit and essential services.
With downtown Los Angeles experiencing some of the nation’s highest office vacancy rates since the pandemic, projects like Sky Castle represent a new approach to breathing life back into the city’s urban core while addressing its housing shortage.
Neither project alone will solve Los Angeles’ housing crisis.
But together they represent more than 2,000 new homes, billions of dollars in private investment and a bold reimagining of downtown Los Angeles—not simply as the city’s business district, but as a place where more working families can afford to live, build community and call home.
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