Sunset Hall Mulls Over Options for Staying Open

Sunset Hall, the struggling Mid-Wilshire district retirement home for aging leftists, voted Saturday to pursue options for remaining open that include talks with a Los Angeles businessman who has offered to save the facility.

Steve Zipp, who describes his business as real estate development, told residents he would retire the home’s debt of more than $300,000 and keep it open if they would cede control of its operations to him.

Last month, the nonprofit home, with fewer than half its 36 rooms occupied, appeared almost certain to close. Its board had recommended selling the property, near MacArthur Park and valued at about $1.3 million, in hopes that a new home could be built at a better location.

Zipp approached the board after reading a Times article about Sunset Hall’s plight and the residents who live there, many of them frail women with longtime involvement in left-leaning politics. Zipp offered to refurbish the 81-year-old home and aggressively market it, convinced that he could fill the rooms.

He also said he would help Sunset Hall build another facility in the San Fernando Valley. Under such a deal, the current Sunset Hall would eventually be sold and Zipp, who recently started a nonprofit organization to create affordable housing for the elderly, would recoup his money.

Sunset Hall has a long tradition of making decisions communally. But Zipp has said that if he put up the money, he would want control of the home’s management without being subject to scrutiny by the board, the residents or outside supporters. “I am trying to operate the thing as I see fit, not as they see fit,” he said.

Zipp also said that although he might not share the political bent of many of the residents, he would continue to honor the mission of Sunset Hall, which calls itself “a retirement home for freethinkers.”

On Saturday, a group of about 50 dues-paying supporters and some of the residents met for nearly three hours. A large part of the discussion was about giving control of Sunset Hall to someone they had met only two weeks ago.

“Everyone is skeptical, including me,” said Jean Torre, a longtime Sunset Hall supporter. But Torre, like many others, said she would endorse negotiating with Zipp because he appeared to offer the best chance of keeping the home open.

After much debate, the membership and residents overwhelmingly decided to allow Sunset Hall’s board to continue talks with Zipp.

At the same time, the board was told to consider other options, including the possibility that Sunset Hall could be sold and turned into a home for abused women.

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For previous Times coverage of Sunset Hall, go to www.latimes.com/sunsethall.