Do the photos in a video on social media accurately show "homeless high-rise" apartments in Los Angeles? No, that's not true: The images are in fact from two different luxury listings in Los Angeles. Several photos are taken from the real estate website listing for an $11.9 million luxury penthouse and the others are taken from the listing for a $798,000 luxury apartment. The main image of the building in the video is the real building that opened in Los Angeles in June 2024, but none of the other images reflect the property.
The claim appeared in a post and video on Instagram on June 21, 2024. It began:
So, the first homeless skyrise has just opened up in downtown California near skid row.
This is what the post looked like at the time of writing:
(Source: Instagram screenshot taken on Thu Jul 11 17:19:49 2024 UTC)
The video shows a split screen with an unidentified man talking as images appear showing interiors of apartments and communal living areas. He claims the new homeless project will have a pool and luxury furnishings. Those claims are not accurate and the images he uses to back up his claim are of million-dollar listings on real estate websites.
The images are not of the Weingart Center Tower, an affordable housing project with rents that will costs 30 percent of the resident's income that opened in Los Angeles in June 2024, as local Fox 11 News reported (archived here).
A Google Lens search of the high-rise in the video shows the building is a $165 million 19-story structure that will be Los Angeles' "largest permanent support housing project," as Fox 11 News reported. The project is shown on the builder's website here (archived here).
A Google Lens search (archived here) of the room with a staircase and red artwork on the wall matches an image in a Redfin.com listing (archived here) for an $11.9 million two-story luxury penthouse on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. The image of the room is picture eight on Redfin:
(Source: Redfin.com website screenshot taken on Thu Jul 11 17:21:16 2024 UTC)
Here is the image from the Instagram video:
(Source: Instagram screenshot taken on Thu Jul 11 17:27:21 2024 UTC)
Multiple pictures from the video posted on Instagram are taken from the $11.9 million listing. In order of appearance in the video:
The kitchen with the large island with a marble countertop is picture 15 on the Redfin site.
The living room with round chairs is picture 11 on the Redfin site.
The living room from another angle is picture 10 on the Redfin site.
The pool is picture 35 on the Redfin site.
A Google Lens search of the gym matches a Redfin.com listing (archived here) for a $798,000 condo for sale in downtown Los Angeles. The gym is picture 41, as this image shows:
(Source: Redfin website screenshot taken on Thu Jul 11 17:37:32 2024 UTC)
Here is the image from the video posted on Instagram:
(Source: Instagram screenshot taken on Thu Jul 11 17:39:3=52 2024 UTC)
The images from the gym and theater room are both from the Redfin listing, which calls the condo "luxury urban living in this sleek high-rise condo." These are not images from the "homeless high-rise."
