A Beverly Hills developer has agreed to acquire one of Los Angeles' largest homeless housing portfolios for $10 million.

Leo Pustilnikov, 38 years old, It plans to buy 17 buildings owned by the nonprofit Skid Row Housing Trust.,it is The company collapsed financially last year and filed for bankruptcy.The facility, which will consist of a single-room hotel and a collection of small apartments, will have 1,200 units for formerly homeless residents, many of whom are elderly, disabled or mentally ill. The deal requires judicial approval and is expected to be approved in Los Angeles County Superior Court next month.

According to the terms of the contract, The Times first reported the story this month. As formally announced in court documents filed by the trustee's expert on Friday, Pustilnikov will pay $19 million for the portfolio and then receive $9 million to cover further renovations and repairs.

“The purchaser appears to me to be a responsible and competent manager,” wrote Kevin Singer, president of Insolvency Trustee Specialists. In court documents“At-risk people living in for-sale properties need permanent owner/operators, and without such an owner/operator, the options for these tenants could be dire.”

The sale to Pustilnikov, along with the sale of additional properties to other owners, finalizes the dissolution of the trust's 29-building portfolio, whose collapse last year triggered what city officials called an “imminent humanitarian crisis.” Residents living in poor conditions It has sparked widespread fears that a vital source of housing of last resort will be lost.

Eleven of the trust's properties, most of which are new and in good condition, have already been transferred to nonprofit landlords, but the remaining buildings are old, in the red despite federal rental subsidies and struggling to find new owners because traditional nonprofits have shied away from them.

Initially, the city Planned to take over the remaining portfolioThe plan was to financially stabilize the complex and sell the buildings to a nonprofit group to redevelop them as homeless housing, but the plan fell apart as city and state budget pressures mounted.

Then, AIDS Healthcare Foundation emerged as a potential buyer. Negotiations with AIDS charities collapse Opposition from state authorities The Foundation's track record on Skid Row The foundation also found flaws in its social welfare plans for residents. In April, foundation officials withdrew from contracts to buy six properties, citing worse-than-expected physical conditions.

Pustilnikov, who has had a long-standing interest in acquiring trust buildings, currently owns valuable residential and commercial properties throughout Los Angeles County. Aggressive interpretation of state law It would force local governments to approve 3,500 new apartments, including a massive project on the Redondo Beach waterfront and a 19-story tower in Beverly Hills.

Mr. Pustilnikov and two wealthy investors tried to build a big downtown portfolio a decade ago, but the effort fizzled and led to litigation as the trio's three SRO hotels sat largely vacant and Mr. Pustilnikov had trouble overseeing and financing other low-income properties nearby.

Pustilnikov said his experience downtown was an asset, learning to navigate the challenges of managing homeless housing on Skid Row and stepping in to rescue the portfolio when existing nonprofits couldn't.

“This is something Los Angeles needs,” Pustilnikov told The Times in an interview this month.

As for the Trust Building, Pustilnikov has partnered with San Fernando Valley-based nonprofit Hope the Mission to create Hope for an Affordable Los Angeles, which will oversee the social services. Mayor Karen Bass and other city leaders have insisted as a condition of the sale that mental health, addiction and other support services continue to be offered in the building.

Trustee Singer said the situation was one of many challenges affecting the disposition of the trust assets.

“The (properties) are incredibly difficult to sell: first, because the properties are complex and problematic, second, because the purchaser must obtain city approval pursuant to regulatory agreements, and third, because some of the properties for sale have negative net worth and cannot even be transferred for free (which is why we combined all 17 into one sale),” Singer said in Friday's court filing.

A hearing before Judge Steven Goulevich to approve the sale to Pustilnikov is scheduled for Aug. 7.