Bass’ team succeeded in leasing 481 rooms at that facility for an additional year. Grand was originally slated to close as temporary homeless housing on Jan. Bass, for her part, was closely involved in the effort to retain another Project Roomkey hotel, the L.A. Mayor Karen Bass called Councilmember Bob Blumenfield’s budget strategy a “throwback to the past,” when City Hall acted with a lack of urgency on homelessness.Ĭouncilmember Nithya Raman, who represents the Hollywood Hills, worked to secure Highland Gardens before Bass took office. council members tap the brakes on Mayor Karen Bass’ budget That facility, located in the Hollywood Hills, offers 72 rooms, or up to 143 beds.Ĭalifornia L.A. Last fall, the council voted to keep the Highland Gardens Hotel operating as temporary homeless housing at least through June 30. But several of the locations that participated in the program continue to serve as temporary housing for L.A.’s homeless population. In 2020, it became one of several hotels across the city to participate in Project Roomkey, a federally funded program that moved homeless Angelenos off the streets as part of the nation’s response to the outbreak of COVID-19.Ĭity leaders voted to end the Project Roomkey program last year. The Mayfair was the site of a $37-million renovation in 20, according to the property’s real estate listing. Those funds are not included in the $250 million being requested for Inside Safe. Bass’ team declined to say whether all or a portion of those funds would go toward the Mayfair. The mayor’s proposed homelessness budget for the coming year lists four separate line items for the acquisition of interim housing, which add up to $73 million. I know it does,” he said, gesturing to the furniture, tarps and other possessions that occupied the median. But he sounded unsure about relocating to a motel in South Los Angeles, more than a dozen miles away. Jeremy Mosley, who had been living on one of those medians, said Wednesday he was ready to make the move. Nearly two dozen tents had taken hold on San Vicente’s median strips and other rights of way. On Wednesday, Bass and Yaroslavsky went to the mayor’s 16th Inside Safe operation, located along a stretch of San Vicente Boulevard in L.A.’s Beverly Grove neighborhood, which is part of Yaroslavsky’s district. “When we go one by one, we’re not optimizing our buying power.” “The logistics of trying to negotiate one-off with hundreds of motel owners puts us in a bad bargaining position,” she said. But paying rent to motel owners is also “not a good long-term strategy,” she said. Yaroslavsky said her office has tried repeatedly without success to lease hotels and motels in her affluent Westside district. Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky, who serves on the council’s budget committee, endorsed the idea of purchasing hotels and motels, saying the city will need “thousands and thousands of units” to address its crisis.
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