Old Downtown Hotel Becomes Home for Veterans

The historic Rosslyn Hotel in Downtown L.A. opened new housing units on Monday for 75 homeless veterans as part of the Single Room Occupancy (SRO) Veterans Transitional Housing Program.

The hotel, located at 112 E. Fifth St. was known for its grandiose decorations in the century but became housing for low-income residents in 1975, according to the Los Angeles Register. In 2010, it was purchased by SRO Housing, a non-profit organization, which transforms old hotels into houses for the homeless on Skid Row. 

Two-hundred sixty-four units will be offered to the homeless, including 93 set aside for people with mental illness and 75 for homeless veterans. “Veterans Affairs has helped me during the transition,” said Greg Powell, a Navy veteran who will be living in the complex. “I think it’s a good program.”

Kim Henderson, the owner of a store across the street from the hotel, welcomes the change.

“I think it’s great that the Rosslyn Hotel got a facelift and is still available for people to use as transitional housing,” said Henderson. 

Those who have already been living in the hotel will be able to stay there. Julie Anderson, a resident of the hotel for five years, said she is happy about the renovation. 

“It’s nice to see people occupy the hotel again, and hopefully it’s going to be a good accommodation for people that need it,” said Anderson. 

“I think it’s actually an amazing idea, to have a building allocated and dedicated to taking the homeless off the street,” said Sam Desalu, a neighboring resident. 

The entire project cost an estimated $33 million.

A similar project is ongoing in San Francisco. The Stanford Hotel is being renovated to house 130 homeless veterans in what will be known as the Stanford Court.

This is the 30th housing project to come to Skid Row from the SRO Housing Corporation.