Americans can barely afford to pay their own rent, put food on the table, and pay the bills in under President Joe Biden. But in this Democrat-run city, residents are being forced to fork over taxes to house the homeless in luxury apartment buildings.
In the liberal city of Los Angeles, Democrat leaders built a luxury, high-rise apartment building that will serve as a shelter for homeless residents on Skid Row— a 54-block area in L.A. that has become synonymous with homelessness, poverty, and heavy drug use.
In the 19-story building called the Weingart Tower, homeless people will be housed in its 278 units and have access to several amenities such as a gym, art room, music room, computer room, library, six common balconies, and a café. The development will also have an entire floor of offices for caseworkers.
The $165 million project will have units that will cost upwards of $600,000 and will be funded by taxpayers. The cost to build each unit will be more than the median price of a condominium in the Democrat city— $564,520 at the end of 2023.
“As many things that we can put inside the building so that you don't have the chaos that you sometimes see outside the building where people are moving to and from so, you can do just about anything you want within this building, and it's a regular apartment,” president and CEO of the Weingart Center Kevin Murray said.
The building will be the first of three high-rises specifically designed to house the homeless. The second tower is set to open in about 18 months and the third is in its development stages.
In 2016, Los Angeles residents voted to pass Proposition HHH, which allows for $1.2 billion in bonds for developments intended to house homeless people. In just one year, homeless people living on the streets in the city increased to roughly 75,518.
The city has tried and failed to pass a series of tax hikes and taxpayer-funded initiatives to offset the effects of homeless living near its communities. Critics say projects such as providing homeless people with luxury amenities will create a larger issue for the city and result in the homeless taking advantage of the initiative.