Days later, as dirt, dog waste, and grime piled up at the Produce Hotel on Skid Row, Jermaine Staley broke into the manager’s closet. Last week, the 78-year-old resident spent four hours cleaning the stairs and common areas, finishing by mopping the lobby. Sweat glistened on my head and pooled in my underwear.

“It’s not like we don’t have soap,” said Staley, who has lived in the building for 27 years. “I had to use my own soap.”

Staley and other tenants said production has deteriorated in the past two weeks since the building was sold under the management of Beverly Hills developer Leo Pustilnikov. Once Mr. Pustilnikov took control of Produce and 16 other supportive housing buildings acquired in a $10 million contract, he drastically reduced cleaning and security services.

Tenants in several buildings said the change in incoming landlords has led to filthy shared bathrooms, constant trespassing and increased fears of violence. Fuchsia Hayes, a resident of the Senator Hotel since 2020, said the reduced security has allowed drug dealers to cycle in and out and illegally occupy rooms to fill vacant rooms. .

“The building got even dirtier,” said Hayes, 30.

The rapid decline in quality of life residents say represents another setback in city leaders’ attempts to provide long-term stability for one of the region’s largest homeless housing portfolios.

Eighteen months ago, Mayor Karen Bass and other city leaders pushed to put the building into receivership as nonprofit owner Skid Row Housing Trust teetered on the brink of collapse. This fall, the saga was supposed to end with the sale of 17 former trust properties to Pustilnikov.

Mr Bass said he was “absolutely” concerned about the reduction in services in the building.

“We want to make sure that people are safe, cared for and have access to the services they need in all of our housing,” Bass said at a press conference on Skid Row last week.

Mr. Pustilnikov said he inherited the level of third-party security and maintenance services in his buildings, including 24/7 armed security and two guards on duty at night, and daily janitors in many buildings. (to be replaced) is financially unsustainable and would cost more than the building’s annual rent on its own. income. He said security duties currently consist of night shifts on weekdays and additional shifts on weekends.

Pustilnikov said he plans to spend millions of dollars installing cameras and expanding trash cans to deal with the problem more efficiently.

“Rather than just wasting money to make it look safe, we are investing real money to create a sustainable, safe and clean environment for our tenants,” Pustilnikov said.

Many of the tenants in the building are elderly, disabled, mentally ill, and drug addicts. The composition of the population is the result of a local system that prioritizes the most vulnerable and troubled people for permanent residence. Pustilnikov said that the top priority is to ensure that tenants receive the social services to which they are entitled, which will above all help improve their conditions.

“The best way to make our residents safer is to ensure everyone has access to the services they need,” he said.

After years of leadership rotation, A broken financial model for operating single-room hotelsAt the time, the trust owned 29 buildings in and around Skid Row, totaling 2,000 units, a quarter of which were deemed uninhabitable.

Fearing what it called a humanitarian crisis, the city agreed to pay. Approximately $40 million in trustee financingDuring this time, recent court filings have amended more than 800 city code and habitability citations. The city is expected to be reimbursed at least $7 million through proceeds from the sale.

Existing nonprofits took over 11 of the properties, most of them new and in good condition, and 18 were left stranded.

It is known for a series of high-profile development proposals. Beverly Hills, Redondo Beach, and other wealthy communitiesPustilnikov, 39, seemed an unlikely buyer. Ten years ago, he set out to build a downtown real estate portfolio with two other investors. It failed and led to a lawsuit.. The trio’s three single-room hotels (buildings similar to those in the trust’s portfolio) remain largely vacant, and Mr. Pustilnikov is overseeing and financing other low-income properties nearby. had a problem with.

Pustilnikov said his motivation for purchasing the trust building came from a desire to help solve the region’s homelessness crisis, and that his experience downtown gave him insight into operating troubled buildings. . City officials have expressed confidence in Pustylnikov’s ability to make repairs.

Pustilnikov’s bid is $10 million for 17 properties — Consisting of approximately 1,200 units — approved in august And after a month, sales started to end. The last former trust building was sold to another group of investors.

Residents said the problem increased when security and cleaning services were cut. In last week’s production, the hallway floor was covered in a layer of dust, and trash was piled up in the corner. One resident showed a reporter a photo of a garbage fire taken inside the building earlier this week. Another photo showed a video of someone half-naked entering the laundry room that morning. Tenants complained of insect bites and an increase in cockroaches.

“This is our home. We just want to get rid of the filth,” said Diane Zendezas, 74, who has lived in the building since 2010.

Pustilnikov said the producer’s manager resigned without notice two weeks ago. He said a new operation started this week and he had hired a contractor to pick up trash on the weekends.

Johnson points to the scene of a recent garbage fire at the Produce Hotel.

(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

Produce and other building tenants said the situation was particularly discouraging, as conditions had improved during the administration period. Hayes told the Senate that the building has been repaired, tenants are seeing caseworkers more frequently and there is an overall increased sense of order.

A month after Pustilnikov took over, broken shower heads have not been repaired, the shared kitchen is no longer usable, and fights between residents have become more frequent.

“It’s scary how quickly it all happened,” Hayes said.

Pustilnikov said that due to the safety hazards posed by existing tenants, the Senate has increased its security coverage compared to the rest of the portfolio.

Residents of Pustilnikov’s other two properties, Boyd and Lincoln, expressed similar concerns to the Times about deteriorating conditions.

Mark Loranger, CEO of nonprofit cleaning contractor Chrysalis, which is in receivership, said he was saddened but not surprised to hear about the condition of the building after his company left. spoke. Properties with shared kitchens and bathrooms require regular maintenance.

“This requires attention every hour of every day,” Loranger said. “I know it’s expensive, but it’s necessary.”

Loranger said Chrysalis wanted to stay with Pustilnikov, but the new owner informed him that he would be responsible for the maintenance.

Under management, security costs for each building were approximately $33,000 per month and were the largest line item in the budget. Maintenance costs ranged from about $7,000 to $17,000 a month, depending on the building.

Pustilnikov said the price is too high, especially since he believes the problem is more structural. He claimed that the piles of garbage were due to the lack of large enough bins on the premises. Residents lack adequate social services, raising safety concerns.

“There is a danger in wasting money to provide a false sense of security, or spending money on outsourced management services that don’t have the space to dispose of waste, without providing real, life-saving services.” Pustilnikov said.

Overall, he said, the transition has been confusing at times. He said the property management staff he had planned to retain left without notice, and new locks, computers, phone lines and other infrastructure had to be installed at many locations.

“Based on the condition of the building we received, it is impossible and reckless to suggest that it can be completely restored to its original condition in a few weeks,” Pustilnikov said.

The city’s housing authority said it is aware of the concerns of residents in the building and inspects the properties weekly. A regulatory agreement between the city and Pustilnikov requires him to provide weekday cleaning services at Produce and four other facilities in need of more extensive repairs.

Sharon Sandow, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Housing Authority, did not directly respond to questions about whether officials believed Pustilnikov was in violation of his contract. He said the city is “closely monitoring” the property and will take immediate action if conditions are found to be substandard.

“We take great care to ensure that owners do what they agree to do to provide safe and stable housing for the residents of Produce and other buildings,” Sandow said. .