City of LA to buy 16 buildings to house homeless

The City of Los Angeles and its housing authority will spend more than $500 million to buy 16 hotels and apartment complexes for homeless residents.

The Board of Commissioners of the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles voted to spend $508 million through Project Homekey, a state program that provides funding to buy hotels and apartment buildings for interim or permanent supportive housing, Urbanize Los Angeles reported.

With a combination of state and local funding, the housing authority and the city are targeting 16 different properties from Northridge to Harbor Gateway, containing 1,276 units.

That comes out to an average cost of $398,000 per apartment.

The 16 properties being purchased by the housing authorities, according to Urbanize Los Angeles, are as follows:

• A five-story, 41-unit apartment complex at 6521 Brynhurst Ave. in Hyde Park, for $17.3 million
• A six-story, 42-unit apartment complex at 2812 W. Temple St. in Historic Filipinotown, for $18.6 million
• A two-story, 29-unit apartment complex at 14949 Roscoe Blvd. in Panorama City, for $10 million
• A new five-story, 36-unit apartment complex at 7639 Van Nuys Blvd. in Van Nuys, for $16.6 million
• A four-story, 27-unit apartment complex at 916 N. Alvarado St. in Echo Park, for $11.2 million
• A new four story, 128-unit apartment complex at 1654 W. Florence Ave. in Downey, for $49.5 million
• A six-story, 80-unit apartment complex at 740 S. Alvarado St. in Westlake, for $31 million
• A seven-story, 101-unit mixed-use apartment building at 21121 Vanowen St. in Canoga Park, for $55.2 million
• A six-story, 79-unit mixed-use building at 5050 W. Pico Blvd. in Mid-City, for $36.5 million.
• A 133-room Extended Stay America hotel at 6531 S. Sepulveda Blvd. in Westchester, for $52.5 million.
•  A 136-room Extended Stay America hotel at 18602 S. Vermont Ave. in Harbor Gateway, for $37.8 million.
• A 146-room Extended Stay America hotel at 20205 Ventura Blvd. in Woodland Hills, for an undisclosed price
• A 117-room Extended Stay America hotel at 19325 Londelius St. in Northridge, for $46.8 million
• A three-story, 62-unit apartment complex at 10150 Hillhaven Ave. in Tujunga, for $17.7 million
• A 62-room BLVD Hotel at 2010 N. Highland Ave. in the Hollywood Hills, for $24.4 million
• A new 85-room hotel at 1044 N. Soto St. in Boyle Heights, for $35.8 million

The state received $2.75 billion in federal funds to bankroll Project Homekey over the next two years. The state allocated around $358 million to L.A. County and municipalities in the county.

A 2020 count found more than 66,400 residents were homeless in Los Angeles County. Of those, nearly 41,300 were in the city of Los Angeles. The next count is scheduled for Feb. 22-24.

[Urbanize Los Angeles] – Dana Bartholomew

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Project Homekey gets $2.75B in fed funding