CEO of homeless service provider placed on leave, property valuation law firm

Two senior officials at the Wingart Center assn.

Weilart has retained an outside law firm to defend “certain homeless projects” in light of “recent light that raises questions regarding the valuation” of the projects, a spokesperson for the group said in a statement Friday.

These officials – Kevin Murray, former State Senator who serves as President and CEO, and Ben Rosen, director of real estate development – could not be immediately reached for comment.

“At this time, the Board has granted acting CEO Tonja Boykin the resignation and will ensure the continuation of Weingert’s mission to provide and transform lives by bringing homelessness to Los Angeles,” said spokesman Stefan Friedman, “said in a statement.

The statement did not specify which housing projects, but the move comes after reports raised questions about the two projects.

The first is in the middle of an ongoing criminal case in which federal prosecutors accused the real estate trust of using documents to obtain documents that will buy $ 11.2 million of $ 27.3 million.

The second project would have converted the Torrance hotel into apartments for the homeless. Weingert planned to buy the Hotel for $ 30 million – a price that was much higher than the actual value of the hotel, it was found at the time.

In both cases, Weingert used, or planned to use, state and local funds designated by homeless people.

Weingert was given $20.5 million from Los Angeles and $26.6 million from the home state to acquire and transform the Cheviot home, and a $1.4 million developer fee to Weingart.

Earlier this month, the real estate agency of the sellers faced a nine-count case for allegedly using illegal bank statements to obtain property for $ 11.2 million to buy Weingart more than double the price.

The project is yet to open. Prosecutors said they are investigating the city of Los Angeles and Weingart’s Weingart family.

In Torrance, Weindart planned to use the money from the house + to buy a wide area of ​​the American Hard Extended for $ 30 million and turn it into housing based for people who are homeless or at risk of being in danger or at risk of being in danger.

Several independent experts interviewed by The Times criticized the appraisal that Weitart used to determine the price of $30.5 million.

“I can’t think of a country where this costs $30 million,” said Richard Green, director of the USC LUSK Center for Real Estate.

The authorities of Torreance, who were opposed to this project, sent an appraisal that determined that the hotel was worth only $10.2 million.

Weilart requested $ 37.7 million for the State HomeKey +, and La County made $ 12 million of this project. Weingert would have processed more than $2 million in developer capital and would have received funding to operate the facility. Faced with public opposition, Weindart ultimately decided not to pursue the project.

The State HomeKey + program is a solution of Gov. Gavin Newlom’s Hotelkey ​​shelters the homeless by buying buildings like hotels and motels and turning them into apartments. Homekey + projects – funded by Proposition 1, which was approved by voters last year to increase treatment and housing beds – are required to use veterans and people with mental illness or mental disorders.

California has poured $3.6 billion into three rounds of housing proposals since the start of the pandemic, according to the Department of Housing and Community Development, which has helped home service providers, helped home service providers, funded more than 25,800 projects. The State provided additional funding from proposal 1 for Homekey+ projects.

HeadQuepert in Skid Row, Weingert is one of the area’s leading homeless services, operating or developing more than ten housing projects throughout La County. Friedman said Weilart serves about 2,000 people daily through its network of temporary supportive housing.

Mike Mauno, a member of the Torrance City Council, said that after he complained to the FBI about what he suspected was an overstaying American Hotel Supvaluation, an FBI agent asked him for a copy of the Weingart analysis.

“It’s very stressed compared to the market,” he told the Times. “They are overestimating these projects – The question is why?”

Weingert pulled the plug on the Torrance project in August, with Murray citing resistance from the city.

“It’s a shame that the city of Torrance is leaving nearly $50 million in state and federal funds on the table that could have gone forever and to support their most vulnerable residents,” Murray said at the time. He added that developer fees are “used to cover the overhead and risk of developing and managing a complex architectural project.”

Murray had denied that the cost of the project, equal to $414,000 per unit, including the manager’s unit, was a good deal. He said it was much less than building new apartments, which can make more than $700,000, making a proposal that is “very effective and cost-effective.”