Units The building opened in October 2014. Star Apartments include 102 units averaging 350 square feet, alongside amenities such as on-site medical services, counseling, fitness and art facilities and a community garden.
Location The Star Apartments are located in the Skid Row neighborhood, known for its large homeless population. The site of the building has frontage on East 6th Street on the northeast, Wall Street on the southeast, and Maple Avenue to the northwest.
Residency Residents of the Star Apartments have been identified as members of the "most vulnerable" population of
Los Angeles County, including the chronic homeless and those with a record of frequently utilizing emergency medical services. Each resident is required to pay 30 percent of income or government assistance toward rent. Residency is non-conditional, meaning residents are not required to enroll in assistance programs offered on-site, including addiction counseling, medical assistance, or psychiatric counseling. In addition to residential tenants, the building is home to the offices of the
Los Angeles County Department of Health Services' Housing for Health division headquarters, a US$18 million program with the mandate to house Los Angeles County's 'sickest and most vulnerable' and a mission to "end homelessness in Los Angeles."
Developer and architect The complex was designed by Michael Maltzan Architecture (MMA), a Los Angeles–based firm led by architect
Michael Maltzan. The developer of the site is the Skid Row Housing Trust. The Star Apartments are the third collaboration between the Skid Row Housing Trust and MMA, and follows the development of the Rainbow and New Carver Apartments projects. Maltzan has been quoted at length regarding his interest in re-imagining housing for the homeless, including that "the community that lives [in the Star Apartments] should have a similar environment to anybody that could afford something more expensive." The building awaited
LEED certification upon opening to residents. ==History==