Rick Weiss New Hope Apartments Are Set To Open in Santa Monica on August 1

Peggy Clifford
Mirror Editor

New hope takes a long time to build, especially in the face of a devastating crisis like AIDS. In the same way, the Rick Weiss New Hope Apartments on Appian Way in Santa Monica took a long time to build—six years, in fact—but workers are now putting the finishing touches on the 21-unit complex to make it ready for occupancy by August 1.
   Chosen by lottery out of a field of 200, 25 individuals and families living with HIV/AIDS will be the first residents.
   Each of the 12 one-bedroom/one-bath and 13 two-bedroom/two-bath units has its own balcony and assigned parking spaces in the building garage and opens onto a landscaped central courtyard. A fully equipped computer room offers residents access to employment services offered by Project New Hope via the internet.
   The complex also has a community room with a kitchen for social events and living quarters for the building manager and his family. The four-story building, which overlooks the beach and the Santa Monica Pier, is the seventh Project New Hope (PNH) affordable housing complex in Los Angeles county. It is a cooperative venture of PNH, the City of Santa Monica, the City of Los Angeles HOWPA program, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the County of Los Angeles Community Development Commission, US Trust and St. Augustine by the Sea Episcopal Church.
   Rick Weiss, for whom the complex is named, was the life partner of Earl Greenburg, a television producer and electronic retailing executive, who led the fund-raising effort.
   Greenburg said, "The long-term crisis for individuals with HIV/AIDS has just begun. Now they are faced with significant life choices, rather than significant death choices. On that front, this building is a godsend for a lot of people."
   At a dedication ceremony on May 21, State Assemblywoman Sheila Kuehl (D, Santa Monica) said, "This wonderful project gives people hope as well as a needed fresh start...(It) will allow people living with HIV/AIDS to care for themselves and live fuller lives."
   The complex was designed by Killefer, Flamming, Purtill, Architects with Ralph Mechur, all of Santa Monica. Mechur said that the project got a general okay from the City of Santa Monica and HUD in 1993 and design work began. It received final approval from city, state and federal boards and agencies in 1996 and construction documents were prepared.
   Construction began in August of 1997, but was shut down for several months at the request of the City, so it could complete sewer work on an adjacent site. The complex incorporates a number of environmentally safe and energy saving materials and equipment, including carpeting recycled from soda bottles, low emission paint, energy-saving washers and dryers and a water heating system that provides hot water and heats the building.
   Total cost of the project is approximately $3.4 million. According to Mechur, the actual construction cost was $2.5 million, or $100,000 per unit. Rents will be subsidized by HUD, with residents, none of whom currently makes more than $10,000 a year. paying no more than 30 percent of their income in rent.