L.A. City Council Approves Plans for LGBT Center’s New Campus

The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved plans yesterday for the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Anita May Rosenstein Campus in Hollywood.

The new campus will include up to 100 units of affordable housing for seniors, 100 beds for homeless youth, new senior and youth centers, up to 35 units of permanent supportive housing for young people and a ground floor retail space.

“Today’s vote marks an important milestone for our city and LGBT community,” said Center CEO Lorri Jean. “For nearly 50 years, our Center has been an important part of our city’s safety net, caring for, among others, LGBT seniors and youth—groups that desperately need our help.

“The need for affordable housing in Los Angeles is particularly dire, especially in Hollywood. The Center and our new Anita May Rosenstein Campus are part of the solution to the growing problem of homelessness, which is precisely why the Center and this project enjoy so much support from the community and elected leaders.”

Today’s vote clears the way for construction on the project to begin early next year. The new campus will also become the Center’s administrative headquarters, freeing space for the current McDonald/Wright building to entirely become a health and medical center, helping to meet the growing demand for medical and mental health care, addiction recovery services, HIV/STD testing and treatment, and more.

The ” target=”_blank”>Rosenstein Campus faced opposition from some people living near the current Youth Center on Highland Avenue and near La Brea Avenue on West Hollywood’s Eastside. They complained that homeless young people and adults who receive services at the Youth Center, at Michael’s Village on Sunset Boulevard and at Friends Community Center on La Brea Avenue drift west across La Brea and into WeHo and trespass on private property and commit acts of vandalism.

Neighbors opposed to the Rosenstein Campus launched a “Hollywood Is Home” campaign that included an online petition asking that the City of Los Angeles Planning Commission deny the Center’s request for permission to build the campus until it can prove that it is providing enough security at the current youth center.

The Rosenstein Campus got support from L.A.. City Councilmember David Ryu, in whose district it will be located. “I am incredibly proud to support the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Anita May Rosenstein Campus project,” Ryu said in a press release. “Over the last year, the Center has worked closely with my office and the adjacent residential community to develop the best possible project for this area. … Having worked on homeless strategies and social services for over 10 years, I know the Center will impact even more lives because of this project. Angelenos owe a debt of gratitude to the Center for their life-saving work.”