Bad bets, dysfunction: Inside the collapse of the Skid Row Housing Trust

In 2016, hoarding by the tenants of more than two dozen downtown residential buildings had become so pervasive that employees felt it posed a health and safety hazard. By then, Skid Row Housing Trust had left a trail of disillusioned former employees who found that its business practices did not match its lofty mission of “serving the poorest and most vulnerable people.” “It was really clear that, whatever sort of battle anyone had imagined that they were waging, what we were currently doing was really bad for the people living in the buildings, and really bad for the people working in the buildings,” said one former staff member who left foreseeing the organization’s coming collapse. The trust did not respond to The Times’ questions, but in a recent letter it described the buildings as being in an unremitting state of crisis and said that because of budgetary shortfalls, it “will need to cease operations which will result in disastrous consequences for our residents.” “Many of the properties continue to face numerous challenges, including critical life safety fire protection system malfunctions, elevator outages, unrepaired damage due to excessive and ongoing vandalism, electrical outages, consistent and unrelenting vandalism and trespassers, electrical problems, plumbing and sanitation issues, among other adverse building conditions,” Cordero, the trust’s interim CEO, wrote in the letter this month to the leaders of the city and state’s housing department. Check out the renderings of Skid Row Housing Trust’s proposed cannabis facility Renderings of a proposed multi-use Skid Row Housing Trust development in South L.A., which would’ve included “a manufacturing plant that specializes in contained, indoor growth of cannabis and cannabis related products.” The 98-year-old Edward Hotel, at 713 E. 5th St., had been refurbished in 1995 for single room occupancy. “Skid Row Housing Trust properties at that time had a lot, still do have a lot, of drug use and things going on,” one former employee said.