History of 1010 Development Corporation
1010 Development Corporation (1010) was founded by the Reverend Dr. DarEll T. Weist in 1991 as an outreach ministry of First United Methodist Church of Los Angeles. Dr. Weist envisioned a community in the South Park neighborhood of downtown Los Angeles long before the arrival of the Staples Center, L.A. Live, and the downtown real estate boom. 1010 started its development work by master-planning the block of Olympic-Flower-11th-Hope Streets in South Park. Funded by a grant from the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles the master plan, which received a design award from the American Institute of Architects, envisioned housing, gardens, community facilities, and other developments on the block. The area now has over 400 units of both affordable and market-rate housing, plus a child care center and a community service center.
1010 continued its development work by building its first two affordable housing developments on the master-planned block. Villa Flores, a 75-unit senior housing development, was completed in 1998. Hope Village, a 66-unit family housing development, was completed in 2001. Hope Village contains a child care center and other community-serving facilities.
Because of 1010’s origins in the United Methodist Church, it came naturally for 1010 to partner with faith-based and community organizations to build more affordable housing. 1010’s third development, Casa Shalom, was completed in 2006 in partnership with the Los Angeles District of the United Methodist Church. The 30-unit family development also includes a child care center, a United Methodist Church mission center, and other community-serving facilities.
In 2007, 1010 added preservation of affordable housing to its mission. It acquired a blighted 20-unit existing affordable housing development called Central Avenue Villa. The original sponsor no longer wanted to operate the property so 1010 assumed the remaining debt, re-syndicated the tax credits, and rehabilitated the property.
JW Apartments is 1010’s fifth development, completed in 2008 on James M. Wood Boulevard just west of downtown Los Angeles. The JW Apartments project contains 61 affordable family units in two buildings located across the street from each other. JW also contains a child care center, as well as a large community room and other resident and community facilities.
More information about each of 1010’s developments is available on our Portfolio page.
To date, 1010 has completed five developments for a total of 252 units in Los Angeles. 1010 continues to work with community partners including churches, other developers, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations to identify and develop new affordable housing communities. 1010 is also growing its resident services offerings through working with partner organizations.
Dr. Weist retired from 1010 Development Corporation at the end of 2007 after 16 years of dedicating himself to providing housing that is affordable for low-income families and seniors. 1010’s current President and CEO, Robert Buente, is poised to lead the organization into the future by strengthening its capacity, growing its portfolio, and expanding its services to residents and the community.
