Abode Communities Teams with The SEED Foundation, ExED to Bring Charter Boarding School for Resilient Youth to South L.A.

Abode Communities is proud to announce its partnership with The SEED Foundation and ExED to develop SEED Los Angeles (SEED LA), a 4.2-acre vocational and 100% college-preparatory charter boarding school for resilient youth in South Los Angeles.

Developed as part of the Community Development Commission of Los Angeles County’s (LACDC) Vermont Manchester Transit Priority Project site, SEED LA is situated at the intersection of Vermont and Manchester Avenue’s, a site vacant for more than two decades following the 1992 civil unrest. The site will be reimagined as a vibrant, mixed-use community with affordable housing, retail, and the SEED LA school, which will offer some 400 resilient youth (youth who have interacted with the child welfare system, probation/juvenile justice system, experienced mental health issues or homelessness, and/or qualify for assistance from Los Angeles County) the opportunity to engage in top-tier education and training for future jobs in the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math), transportation, and infrastructure industries. Of note, all SEED LA students will live on campus five days a week and return to their families/guardians during the weekends.

This 113,000 square foot campus and boarding school will include 200 dormitories, 21 administrator units, 24 classrooms, social services space, cafeteria, gymnasium, offices and a reading room. Designed by Abode Communities | Architecture, the SEED LA site integrates and enhances the current context of the neighborhood’s buildings with an architectural design that responds to the bustling corridor along Vermont Avenue, while respecting the small scale residential building to the east. The campus features various building elements such as balconies, building offsets and terraces, resulting in a modern expression that is well-suited for the vibrant, communal, and interactive educational experience.

This development, supported by LACDC, Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, is expected to complete construction in 2021.