For years, a vacant lot in downtown Los Angeles sat empty. It was once a parking lot and was slated to become a staging area for the construction of a new jail.
But in 2019, county officials began considering the space to shelter homeless residents. And when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, they forged ahead on the project.
Now it’s home to The Hilda L. Solis Care First Village, a hybrid facility that offers both permanent and temporary housing to people experiencing homelessness.
Built by NAC Architecture and Bernards in 2021, the facility uses shipping containers to create private apartments for residents. The two main buildings contain 132 units of permanent housing, with trailers divided into five units that are utilized for interim housing.
The community also hosts an administrative building that includes dining facilities, laundry, and support services available to both temporary and permanent dwellers.
“The goal is house people as quickly as you can,” Sarah Dusseault, a commissioner with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority who advised on the project, told The Los Angeles Times. “Get people into housing right away, even if it’s going to be operated as temporary.”
With a time crunch during the height of the pandemic, the 64,000-square-foot facility was completed in just six months, encompassing a total of 232 housing units, as well as a commercial kitchen, landscaped courtyards, a dog park, and parking spots.
Each building is three stories and formed by steel shipping crates, stacked on top of one another.
According to NAC Architecture, the containers are fixed in place and use an attached structure of balcony corridors and stairs to make each unit accessible — and conducive to communal gathering.
Windows are also cut into every unit and the walls and ceilings of all of the shipping containers are fully insulated. Each container holds two living units, which come equipped with a bed, microwave, mini-fridge, television, and private bathroom.
L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis was the one who initiated the project — and the person it is now named after. At first, she was skeptical about using shipping containers but was won over by the contractors.
“The environment is quite impressive,” she told The Los Angeles Times. “It’s just like being at a Best Western, only smaller.”
“That’s going to be the biggest eye-opener for other public officials,” Solis added. “Treating homelessness can be done with dignity and respect.”
She was also impressed by the speed at which the project came to fruition, speed-running COVID-19 dollars from the federal government’s Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, as well as funding from the city budget.
“The NAC design team is proud of remaining committed to the individual and collective needs of the residents throughout the development process, ultimately providing an innovative, respectful housing solution,” the architecture firm shared in a statement.
“The project provides safe, secure shelter, meals, and case management on a 24-hour basis for adults experiencing homelessness.”
The facility is now operated by the Weingart Foundation, a grant-making organization in Southern California, and welcomed its first residents in the spring of 2021. It reached full occupancy within one month.
“What once was supposed to be a staging area to build a new Men’s Central Jail will now serve as a safe space to address the housing, mental and behavioral health needs of our residents experiencing homelessness,” Solis said in a statement when the facility was opened.
“We’ve been open for three years, and currently, we have served close to 800 clients,” Chris Castaneda, a program manager with the Weingart Foundation, said in a video update in 2024.
“This was originally supposed to be part of a jail… and Supervisor Solis took the initiative to turn it into an interim housing site, which provides safe space and resources for our clients.”
While the Care First Village represents a step in the right direction for L.A. residents facing homelessness, it also stands as a blueprint for the kind of progress that can be made when local leaders take swift action to meet immediate needs.
“We’re so delighted to be part of the solution for homelessness,” Mark Pestrella, director of public works, told The Los Angeles Times in 2021.
“Public servants are all so excited to be given the opportunity to make a difference. People just dig in when they need to.”
Header image courtesy of NAC Architecture
