The old General Hospital in Los Angeles is the 19-story Art Deco tower at 1200 North State Street in Boyle Heights that served for 75 years as Los Angeles County General Hospital, the largest public hospital west of Chicago. It closed in 2008 after the 1994 Northridge earthquake left it structurally compromised, and after sitting mostly empty for nearly two decades it is now in the early stages of a $700 million to $1 billion conversion into a mixed-use “Healthy Village” with more than 1,000 housing units, wellness services, retail, and open space on the surrounding 30.8-acre campus.1LAist. LA County General Hospital Future
What the Building Is
The hospital’s cornerstone was dedicated by actress Mary Pickford on December 7, 1930, and the building opened in December 1933 at a cost of $12 million.2National Center for Biotechnology Information. History of Los Angeles County General Hospital Designed by the Allied Architects’ Association of Los Angeles with county architect Karl Muck, it spanned roughly one million square feet and held 1,680 beds. The LA Conservancy has described the design as reflecting “New Deal ideals of scale, centralized organization, and beauty in efficient form.”3LA Conservancy. Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center
The entrance façade is lined with concrete sculptures by Salvatore Cartaino Scarpitta, including an “Angel of Mercy” and figures of Hippocrates and Pasteur. The interior foyer has ceiling murals by Hugo Ballin, whose work also appears at the Griffith Observatory.4DTLA Weekly. General Hospital: The Iconic Depression-Era Building For most of the twentieth century the hospital functioned as Southern California’s medical safety net, handling about a third of the county’s trauma care and training thousands of doctors and nurses. It was also a site of social movements, from Chicano Movement organizing in the 1970s to HIV/AIDS advocacy in the 1980s and 1990s.3LA Conservancy. Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center
Why It Closed
The January 17, 1994, Northridge earthquake inflicted serious damage across the medical campus. State engineers permanently closed the 166-bed Psychiatric Hospital after inspectors found “serious damage to the support columns and shear walls,” with repair costs for that wing alone estimated at roughly $50 million.5Los Angeles Times. Psychiatric Hospital at County-USC Permanently Closed The main 1933 tower could not meet the new seismic standards and also lacked central air conditioning, fire sprinklers, and other features required by updated medical codes.6Los Angeles Times. Planning the Rebirth of a Mothballed LA Landmark
A replacement 600-bed hospital, LA County-USC Medical Center, was built next door starting in 1998. On November 7, 2008, the old General Hospital officially closed and transferred services to the new facility.7Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity. General Hospital Since then the tower has been mostly mothballed. A ground-floor wellness center and various county offices use space up through the fourth floor; the upper stories sit empty.6Los Angeles Times. Planning the Rebirth of a Mothballed LA Landmark
What Will Be Built There: The Healthy Village Plan
On May 15, 2026, the county’s Department of Economic Opportunity released the Los Angeles County General Hospital Campus Master Plan, a framework for transforming the 30.8-acre site through phased development. The county describes a roughly decade-long buildout; LAist has reported a 15-year horizon.8Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity. General Hospital Campus Master Plan Announcement1LAist. LA County General Hospital Future
The plan calls for more than 1,000 housing units across the campus, with 600 to 800 of those inside the historic tower itself. At least 25% would be designated affordable, with priorities for seniors, veterans, and youth transitioning out of foster care.1LAist. LA County General Hospital Future Alongside housing, the campus is planned to include expanded healthcare access, preventive care and mental health services, community-serving retail with a proposed grocery store, medical offices and lab space, public plazas and green space, and improved transit connections.
The project is expected to generate roughly 2,500 construction jobs and 1,200 permanent jobs, with a target of at least 30% filled by local workers.9Los Angeles Times. LA County Supervisors Select Developer for General Hospital Revamp Phasing is designed to keep the adjacent LA General Medical Center operating as an active hospital throughout construction.
What’s Happening on the Site Right Now
Before any apartments can go inside the 1933 tower, the building needs major structural work. Developer due diligence uncovered what the county called “significant site constraints,” prompting officials to separate immediate stabilization from the longer-term redevelopment. The resulting Campus Stabilization Project began in summer 2025 and is scheduled to run through 2028.7Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity. General Hospital
Stabilization has three main tracks. The 1.2-million-square-foot tower is getting a seismic retrofit that includes foundation upgrades, new structural walls, and reinforcement of columns and beams at existing stair cores, with groundbreaking expected in summer 2026.1LAist. LA County General Hospital Future Structurally compromised and obsolete buildings on the West Campus are being demolished, and the aging West Central Plant is being decommissioned and replaced with modern heating and cooling systems. Existing tenants are being relocated: the Wellness Center is moving to forecourt buildings northwest of the site, and the VIP Community Mental Health Center is moving to the nearby vacant Central Juvenile Hall campus.7Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity. General Hospital
Who Is Paying for It
The total project has been estimated at between $700 million and $1 billion.1LAist. LA County General Hospital Future The county is using a public-private partnership model, with the developer, Centennial Partners, responsible for securing much of the private financing after the county-funded stabilization phase.
So far, the county has authorized $120 million for stabilization. Of that, $106 million goes to Centennial Partners, $9 million is held in contingency, and $5 million is reserved for county management. The funding draws primarily from state housing grants and the federal American Rescue Plan. The broader financing strategy also anticipates federal historic preservation tax credits (contingent on National Register listing), low-income housing tax credits, and climate-related tax credits.10Los Angeles Times. First Step in the Revival of the County’s Mothballed General Hospital Building
Centennial Partners is a joint venture between Primestor Development, a Culver City-based, Latino-owned firm led by Arturo Sneider, and Bayspring Real Estate Partners. Primestor’s past work includes the retail center at Jordan Downs in South Los Angeles and the restoration of the Paul Williams-designed Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Building. The Board of Supervisors voted 4-0, with one recusal, to enter an exclusive negotiation agreement with Centennial on December 19, 2023.11Los Angeles Times. LA County Supervisors Select Developer for General Hospital Revamp
Preserving the Art Deco Building
The 1933 tower is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places but does not yet hold that designation. In July 2025, the Board of Supervisors voted to begin the formal application. Listing would unlock federal tax credits for rehabilitation and would require preserving the building’s Art Deco character, including the Scarpitta sculptures on the façade and the Ballin ceiling murals inside, as redevelopment proceeds.12LAist. LA County Wants the General Hospital Listed as a Nationally Recognized Historic Site The $120 million stabilization investment includes work aimed at securing designation through both the National Register and the California Office of Historic Preservation.8Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity. General Hospital Campus Master Plan Announcement
The LA Conservancy has publicly supported the adaptive reuse approach, appearing before the Board of Supervisors in December 2023 to back the agreement with Centennial Partners.3LA Conservancy. Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center In September 2025, the Conservancy hosted two days of public tours that drew nearly 900 people into rarely seen spaces like the surgery theater and the county prison hospital.13LA Conservancy. Adapting LA’s General Hospital: A New Vision for Housing
How the Community Has Been Involved
The planning process began in November 2018, when First District Supervisor Hilda L. Solis authored a board motion directing a feasibility study for adaptive reuse of the old hospital. The scope later expanded to include vacant portions of the surrounding West Campus, and the completed study was presented to the Board of Supervisors in May 2022.14HICP LA. General Hospital
According to the county, outreach has included more than 100 focus group meetings, 25 town halls, three community workshops, and 16 Community Advisory Committee meetings.8Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity. General Hospital Campus Master Plan Announcement Supervisor Solis founded the Health Innovation Community Partnership in 2017 as a grassroots advisory group drawing nonprofit, business, and resident leaders from Boyle Heights, Lincoln Heights, East Los Angeles, and El Sereno. In July 2025, the board allocated $3.3 million in First District discretionary funds for technical analysis and community-based planning.15LA County GovDelivery. Board of Supervisors Motion on General Hospital Redevelopment A formal Community Benefits Agreement is planned but has not been finalized; county officials have said it will be shaped by community input before construction begins.