AHF to Convert Historic Insurance Exchange into Affordable Housing

New Angel Tower will offer 251 affordable housing units and apartments via adaptive reuse; Marks AHF’s first repurpose of office building for housing

AHF, the largest global AIDS organization, under its Healthy Housing Foundation banner, has purchased the historic Insurance Exchange Building in downtown Los Angeles (318-320 W 9^th St, Los Angeles, CA 90015) and will renovate it to create much-needed housing for the homeless and extremely low-income individuals. The building will be reborn as Angel Tower and becomes the 14^th building, as well as the first office building, AHF has purchased and renovated since October 2017.

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“AHF is delighted to add the Insurance Exchange Building to our roster of affordable housing here in Los Angeles. We know firsthand the fight for affordable housing is fought one door at a time. This building offers the potential for 251 brand-new doors in its incarnation as Angel Tower,” said Michael Weinstein, president of AHF. “This also is the first commercial space that AHF will be reconfiguring as housing. The building’s ‘U’ shape lends itself well to adaptive reuse for housing as it makes it easier for our architects to ensure that all units created have ample windows for access to natural light and ventilation.”

Since 2017, when AHF first kicked off its housing program to address L.A.’s homeless and affordable housing crises, the Healthy Housing Foundation has spent more than $183 million purchasing and repurposing a variety of existing older and often historic residential properties throughout Greater Los Angeles. Some -- like the King Edward, the Barclay, and the Sinclair -- are majestic older hotels given new life. Others include a mix of efficient mid-century roadside motels and older hotels.

The sale of the 12-story, 1924 Insurance Exchange Building closed Tuesday, March 7, 2023 at a purchase price of $21,250,000. Once renovation is complete, AHF’s total number of affordable rental housing units across Greater Los Angeles will reach 1,666.

To mark the acquisition and addition of the property to Healthy Housing Foundation’s roster of affordable housing, AHF will run a full-page ad headlined “Angel Tower: A Rebirth” in the Sunday Los Angeles Times on March 19, 2023.

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The Insurance Exchange building is the first commercial space that AHF is reconfiguring as housing. Its ‘U’ shape lends itself well to adaptive reuse, as it makes it easier for our architects to ensure that all units created have ample windows and light.