Affordable and Supportive Housing in Venice, CA
In Venice, California, one of Los Angeles’s most desirable Westside neighborhoods, a former sanitation yard has been transformed into something far more vital: affordable and permanent supportive housing for seniors, families, and individuals experiencing chronic homelessness. Thatcher Yard introduces 98 new homes designed to provide safety, dignity, and community while fitting thoughtfully into a complex urban context.
Affordable housing in established neighborhoods often faces resistance, especially in areas dominated by high-end residences. For Thatcher Yard, HED was tasked with creating a development that respects its surroundings while also addressing urgent housing needs. The design solution is rooted in sensitivity to scale, context, and character, producing an affordable housing community that harmonizes with its neighbors while establishing a strong identity of its own.
The Thatcher Yard project received the Senior Housing Development Award at the 2025 SCANPH Homes Within Reach Awards.
The development provides 68 affordable senior housing units and 30 additional affordable family and individual units, half of which are designated as permanent supportive housing for residents experiencing chronic homelessness. Within these, unit types range from studios to one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments, providing homes for individuals, couples, and families alike. By pairing stable housing with access to social services, Thatcher Yard offers not only shelter but also pathways to security, connection, and hope.
An integrated design approach shaped every element of the project. Architecture, urban planning, and landscape design worked together in real-time to respond to the site’s varied edges and to create a cohesive community. On the west side, which borders single-family homes, the massing steps down and breaks into porous, house-like forms that echo the rhythm and spaciousness of the surrounding neighborhood. Shared green courtyards in these areas blur the line between built form and open space, making outdoor amenities an extension of the housing itself.
On the east side, where multi-family housing rises several stories higher, the development takes on a more vertical and articulated character. Here, a three-story roofline climbs to meet the scale of five-story buildings, with a dynamic façade that conveys movement and rhythm in parallel with adjacent properties. Between these edges, the architecture, landscape, and community amenities knit together multiple housing types into one cohesive development.
Material choices reinforce this integration. Shingle siding and white-painted trim nod to Venice’s traditional residential aesthetic, while landscaping softens building edges and defines shared open spaces. Courtyards, walkways, and shaded seating areas are not simply add-ons—they are central to the design, encouraging resident interaction and building community.
By targeting a previously underutilized infill site, Thatcher Yard creates much-needed affordable housing without displacing existing residents, demolishing current housing, or raising costs in the neighborhood. Instead, it welcomes vulnerable populations into an established community, supported by a network of care and social services.
For Venice, Thatcher Yard represents more than new housing units. It is a model of how integrated, context-sensitive design can transform overlooked land into inclusive, sustainable, and compassionate communities.
