The Actors Fund and Thomas Safran & Associates Break Ground on Affordable Housing & Arts Center - The Hollywood Arts Collective

The Actors Fund and affordable housing developer Thomas Safran & Associates, broke ground on The Hollywood Arts Collective, a $120 million project that will include 151 units of affordable housing for artists, the 86-seat Glorya Kaufman Theater, art galleries, rehearsal studios, non-profit arts office space and a new home for The Actors Fund Western Region Headquarters.

The start of the project was celebrated at a virtual groundbreaking, featuring Annette Bening, Vice Chair, The Actors Fund; Brian Stokes Mitchell, Chairman, The Actors Fund; and Chandra Wilson, Western Council, The Actors Fund. The groundbreaking can be viewed here: actorsfund.org/HAC.

"The Actors Fund has been supporting the entertainment community in Los Angeles for over a century," said Annette Bening. "The Hollywood Arts Collective allows us to significantly deepen our commitment to our colleagues in the Hollywood creative community."

"We are thrilled that this innovative and essential project is finally being realized in the heart of Hollywood, thanks to the support of our Founding Donors: Glorya Kaufman, Monica Horan and Phil Rosenthal, Olga Garay-English and Kerry English, and Bonnie Comley and Stewart F. Lane," said Actors Fund President and CEO Joseph P. Benincasa. "The combination of affordable housing with a vibrant neighborhood arts center is completely unique and is the first of its kind in Southern California."

"We are proud to partner with The Actors Fund on this incredible opportunity to provide 151 units of much needed affordable housing in the heart of Hollywood," said Thomas Safran & Associates President Jordan Pynes. "With the support of affordable rents and social services provided by The Actors Fund, we plan to create a creative, collaborative community for local artists to thrive in."

"Los Angeles is a city where creativity and solutions meet-and where innovative strategies inform answers to everything from housing to economic development to reinforcing Hollywood's role as a center for jobs and opportunity," said Mayor Eric Garcetti. "The Hollywood Arts Collective is a tribute to the Angeleno spirit, combining an affordable place to live with a dynamic place to create, transforming a home for artists into a thriving community for the arts, and breathing new energy into the heart of our city."

The Hollywood Arts Collective will consist of two buildings: The Arts Building, designed by HGA, and The Residential Building, designed by Withee Malcolm Architects. The development will be located on Hollywood Boulevard between Wilcox Avenue and Schrader Boulevard, further contributing to the revitalization of Hollywood as a cultural epicenter and destination for the arts and entertainment communities. With nearly $100 million in public support and conventional financing already secured from sources such as the City of Los Angeles, the State of California, the Los Angeles Development Fund and the federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit program, The Actors Fund expects to raise at least $20 million philanthropically in support of the project as part of a public capital campaign, with $5 million already raised toward that goal. The project, which is now officially under construction, is expected to open in 2024.

The project is the culmination of over ten years of cultural planning and development by The Actors Fund, developers Thomas Safran & Associates, and the City of Los Angeles Departments of Cultural Affairs and Transportation. The Actors Fund, in partnership with the Department of Cultural Affairs of the City of Los Angeles, conducted a survey of the local arts community in 2012 to determine affordable housing needs, finding an overwhelming majority of those surveyed calling for affordable housing for working artists who are increasingly priced out of the Los Angeles area. Both individual artists and arts organizations cited the overwhelming need for more affordable rehearsal and presentation space in the City. Ongoing development partners in the project include Thomas Safran & Associates, the City of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Development Fund, the State of California, HGA Los Angeles and Withee Malcolm Architects.

Since mid-March of 2020, The Actors Fund has provided $19 million+ in direct financial assistance to more than 15,000 people in need in performing arts and entertainment, while continuing to provide services including affordable housing opportunities, health care and insurance counseling, senior care, secondary career development and more.

"For 139 years, The Actors Fund has been helping people in the arts in need," said philanthropist Glorya Kaufman. "My passion has been theater and dance and helping causes that help people in these professions. Therefore, The Actors Fund has been the crown jewel in my philanthropic life. I'm so excited about being part of this new project for the performing artists who will receive shelter, support and care in LA."

"Access to affordable housing is critical to a thriving creative community in Hollywood and the city of Los Angeles," said Actors Fund Western Region Executive Director Keith McNutt. "With gentrification and rising rents in neighborhoods traditionally accessible to workers in the entertainment and arts community, The Hollywood Arts Collective is an urgent and timely need. This project will allow professionals in our industry to live, work and perform in the center of creativity in Los Angeles. Their presence, their work, will be an engine of the continued arts-based revitalization of Hollywood."

"This project was an incredible collaborative effort, led by our Actors Fund Vice Chair Annette Bening, The Fund's Western Region Executive Director Keith McNutt and our partners at Thomas Safran & Associates," said Brian Stokes Mitchell. "With the City of Los Angeles and the State of California, and with thanks to the National Endowment for the Arts and MusiCares for their early support of this development, The Hollywood Arts Collective is the embodiment of The Actors Fund vision: a world in which individuals contributing to cultural vibrancy are supported, valued and economically secure."

"By 2024, this project will be a reality. Here, in the heart of Hollywood. A beautiful new space for our arts and entertainment community," said Chandra Wilson, of The Actors Fund's Western Council. "And The Actors Fund will be their closest neighbor. This is an incredible achievement that will support our arts and entertainment community for generations to come."

To learn more about how you can support The Hollywood Arts Collective and for updates, visit actorsfund.org/HAC.

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