The California Endowment starts building 124 affordable homes on land it donated beside its LA headquarters

The California Endowment (TCE) has begun work on the Robert K. Ross Center for Hope and Healing, a campus of 124 affordable apartments and about 66,000 square feet of community space on a 1.95-acre lot behind its downtown Los Angeles headquarters, Inside Philanthropy reported on October 15. The foundation donated the land.

Inside Philanthropy reported that the project broke ground on October 6. A notice on TCE's project page says parking at its campus would be limited from Monday, September 28, "as we break ground," though other sections of the page still describe construction as anticipated. Completion and opening are expected in 2028 or 2029.

What the center will include

TCE's project page describes a seven-story building with one-, two- and three-bedroom units, including homes for large and intergenerational families. It is meant for formerly incarcerated and unhoused people and for low-income residents of nearby neighborhoods, especially Chinatown, with a focus on households earning 30% to 60% of the area median income. Inside Philanthropy reported that 10 apartments will be reserved for people with disabilities, and that the community space will include a health clinic run by St. John's Community Health, workforce development, counseling and creative arts therapy. Linc Housing, a nonprofit developer that TCE's board selected in February 2023, is leading design, financing, construction and operation.

The center is one part of Hope Village, a plan led by Homeboy Industries for land stretching from Homeboy's campus toward Men's Central Jail. Homeboy's project site describes replacing a "dilapidated jail and vacant, aging properties" with an integrated village built around radical kinship.

How it is being paid for

Inside Philanthropy listed a $24.1 million loan and a $14.1 million grant from California's Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities program; a $500,000 MacArthur Foundation grant plus a $3 million program-related investment from MacArthur at 1% interest over 10 years; $2 million from Whittier Trust's Young Adult Forward Fund; and $1.5 million from Ballmer Group. The James Irvine Foundation and the Keck Foundation also made grants of undisclosed size, and TCE added social bond funding as well as the land. Inside Philanthropy put TCE's endowment at about $4 billion.

"We have to think beyond writing checks and really think about how we use every asset that we have," Brenda Solórzano, TCE's president and CEO, told Inside Philanthropy.

What other funders can take from it

In our view, the notable gift here is one that does not appear on a grant list: a foundation's own real estate, used to anchor a project that drew public money and other funders. Community input came first. Kounkuey Design Initiative led a nine-month listening process starting in 2021, and a community advisory board formed in 2023, according to Inside Philanthropy. For other funders putting flexible capital into local housing, see the San Diego Foundation's housing financing.