City, state officials secure funds for Los Angeles housing sites

A number of housing sites across the city of Los Angeles will benefit from more than $1 million in state funding to cover security improvements and renovations, city and state officials announced Friday.

Mayor Karen Bass, joined by City Council members and state legislators, said they successfully secured funding in the 2023-24 state budget to support housing sites. The announcement was made during a news conference at the Travelodge motel in Chatsworth, one of the housing sites that will benefit from the funding.

The mayor’s office coordinated with the City Council and the Los Angeles delegation of the state Legislature to identify projects that needed targeted funding to provide housing for people living on the streets in tents and encampments.

“This year’s budget reflects our commitment to confronting the number one crisis our city is facing,”  Bass said.

The mayor thanked Assembly members Pilar Schiavo, Jesse Gabriel and Wendy Carrillo and Sens. Caroline Menjivar and Henry Stern for working with city leaders to secure “critical funds that will be used to make repairs and open more rooms in order to bring more Angelenos inside.”

The more than $1 million in funding will support the following interim housing sites:

• Travelodge/Devonshire Lodge: The Devonshire Lodge is a former motel acquired through the state’s Homekey program for use as interim housing and conversion to permanent supportive housing. The site is located in Chatsworth and has 75 units. Stern secured $210,000 and Schiavo secured $200,000 for the city to fund safety improvements at the motel.

• Huntington Villas: Huntington Villas is a former motel which the city acquired in 2020 for utilization as interim housing and conversion to permanent supportive housing. The site has 52 units and is located near El Sereno. Carrillo secured $500,000 for the city to fund renovations, such as accessibility upgrades, Fire Life Safety system upgrades, and installation of security fencing, at the interim housing site.

• The Sieroty/Howard Johnson: The Sieroty is a former motel acquired through the state’s Homekey program for use as interim housing and conversion to permanent supportive housing. The site is located in Reseda and has 75 units of interim housing. Menjivar secured $500,000 and Gabriel secured $300,000 in funding for the city to help ensure 100% occupancy for interim housing. The funding will support accessibility upgrades, Fire Life Safety system upgrades, electrical upgrades, and other necessary renovation.

“We need to get our unhoused neighbors off the streets and onto a pathway into permanent housing. I’m proud to have been able to secure $210,000 to ensure that sites like Travelodge in Chatsworth can be up to code and ready for occupancy,” Stern said in a statement.

Mejivar added that local and state leaders are committed to address the homeless crisis because “every Californian deserves to be safe and housed.”

According to Carrillo, the state has invested more than $17 billion to aid local governments in addressing homelessness since 2019. The 2021 and 2022 Budget Acts invested a combined $21.5 billion over multiple years to advance the greater availability of housing throughout California.

“The 2023-24 budget largely maintains these commitments and includes a housing package of $14.7 billion with an earmarked $3.5 billion in new funding for homelessness programs,” Carrillo said.

Council members John Lee, whose 12th District includes Chatsworth, and Nithya Raman, chair of the council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee, expressed gratitude for the funding.

“Solving our homelessness crisis means seizing every opportunity we have to secure resources to help people on their journey off the street and indoors,” Raman said in a statement. “I am so grateful to Mayor Bass and our state leaders for this critical infusion of funds for lifesaving beds in my district and throughout the city.”

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