After Spending $550 Million, Over 70 Percent of Los Angeles County’s Project Homekey Homeless Rooms Vacant

Government is theft.  Government is incompetence.  Government is mismanagement.  Here is more proof.

“Project Homekey, California’s COVID era emergency housing program, was supposed to change all of that. Governor Gavin Newsom directed $3.5 billion in emergency federal COVID relief funds to help cities and counties purchase motels, hotels, and apartment buildings rapidly and make them available for homeless housing. The state distributed three rounds of Homekey funds in 2021, 2022, and 2023-24. L.A. County received a total of $550 million and used the funds to help purchase 32 buildings. Earlier this year, Newsom lauded the program as “a national model for rapidly creating affordable housing for Californians in need.” 

However, according to an exclusive, months-long investigation by the Westside Current, as an estimated 139,151 homeless people, both locals and newcomers, occupy streets, sidewalks, beaches, parks, playgrounds, and other public spaces throughout the County, at least 1,538 the total 2,157 Homekey rooms are vacant. This number accounts for more than 71% of all Homekey rooms. These revelations come on the heels of our previous reporting that discovered more than 1,200 vacant Homekey units owned by the City of Los Angeles.

L.A. has a massive homeless problem—and 70% of the temporary shelters are EMPTY.  Corruption, incompetence or government as normal.  This is how L.A. wastes your money, meant to help the homeless.

EXCLUSIVE: After Spending $550 Million, Over 70 Percent of Los Angeles County’s Project Homekey Homeless Rooms Vacant

Jamie Paige, Chris LeGras, Westside Current  9/17/24  https://www.westsidecurrent.com/news/exclusive-after-spending-550-million-over-70-percent-of-los-angeles-county-s-project-homekey/article_efe6bf0c-75bf-11ef-ab3c-9b098130204a.html?utm_source=westsidecurrent.com&utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletter%2Foptimize%2Fdaily-headlines%2F%3F-dc%3D1726669827&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline

A retired veteran in a wheelchair, missing a leg and suffering from multiple medical issues, arrived in Los Angeles from Missouri with hopes of “getting away from himself” and making a new start. Instead, he found himself waiting outside a vacant, abandoned hotel in Norwalk, hoping for help. It never came. On a particularly hot August day, during the worst heat wave in recent memory, he sat alone on the sidewalk. He shared that he had come to L.A. because he’d heard about the city’s homeless housing and services. However, upon arrival, he discovered nothing but an empty building and no direction on where to go next. When asked if he had been offered any help by the county or nonprofits, he simply said, “no.”

He’s one of countless thousands in similar situations. Tony, from Pacoima, is a local who got injured on the job. After his mother lost their family home, Terry found himself living in a park with nowhere to turn. “I’ve paid into the system my whole life, and it feels like there’s no help for people like me,” he explained. At night, he sleeps in a friend’s car, saying the park isn’t safe and that he has to protect himself however he can. Like the veteran in Norwalk, Terry represents the growing number of homeless people in Los Angeles who’ve been left waiting for help that seems ever farther out of reach. 

L.A. County’s homelessness crisis is the source of much debate and rancor. However, one area on which there is increasing agreement is that the status quo, which focuses on providing every homeless person with “permanent supportive housing” (PSH), has failed. Housing takes years to construct and make available, if it ever materializes at all. Meanwhile, at least six homeless people die every day in the County. According to County Health Department records, in 2022, the last year for which numbers are available, 2,201 homeless people died. Those are the official statistics. Like the annual point in time count of the County’s homeless population the actual number of deaths is several times higher.

Project Homekey, California’s COVID era emergency housing program, was supposed to change all of that. Governor Gavin Newsom directed $3.5 billion in emergency federal COVID relief funds to help cities and counties purchase motels, hotels, and apartment buildings rapidly and make them available for homeless housing. The state distributed three rounds of Homekey funds in 2021, 2022, and 2023-24. L.A. County received a total of $550 million and used the funds to help purchase 32 buildings. Earlier this year, Newsom lauded the program as “a national model for rapidly creating affordable housing for Californians in need.” 

However, according to an exclusive, months-long investigation by the Westside Current, as an estimated 139,151 homeless people, both locals and newcomers, occupy streets, sidewalks, beaches, parks, playgrounds, and other public spaces throughout the County, at least 1,538 the total 2,157 Homekey rooms are vacant. This number accounts for more than 71% of all Homekey rooms. These revelations come on the heels of our previous reporting that discovered more than 1,200 vacant Homekey units owned by the City of Los Angeles.

Our investigation included visits to 31 of the 32 properties, often more than one, as well as interviews with unhoused residents, security guards, neighbors, and on-site managers at Homekey sites, extensive online research, and correspondence with representatives from Governor Gavin Newsom’s office, the California Department of Housing and Community Development, the County of Los Angeles Homeless Initiative, and individual property developers. We also reached out via email to all five County Supervisors. None responded to our inquiries.

A focus on permanent supportive housing

There have been two phases to Project Homekey. During the pandemic, properties served as emergency short term (also called “interim”) housing. Unlike the City, the County appears to have done a good job initially filling its rooms. Thousands of homeless people received shelter. In the second phase, the County has begun hiring contractors to perform necessary repairs and upgrades for the interim units to qualify as permanent supportive housing.)

This is where the challenges began. Our site visits revealed that construction has not started at many properties. Other buildings require such extensive renovations that occupancy is months if not years away. Among the vacant properties include a 57 room former Motel 6 in Harbor City ($7.9 million purchase price), a 107 room former Extended Stay in Carson ($41.8 million purchase price), and a 109 room former Grand Park Inn in Baldwin Park ($42.8 million purchase price). When we visited this month, there were no significant signs of construction activity at any of them.

One county project, a new 25 unit co-living building in Exposition Park called The Nest at Exposition, officially broke ground on February 29, 2024. The $13.5 million project, which is across the street from the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, is owned by an L.A. based nonprofit called Wellnest. When completed, the building will house homeless and at-risk transitional youths ages 15-26. On hand for the groundbreaking ceremony were Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’s Chief Housing and Homelessness Solutions Lourdes Castro Ramirez, and California Department of Housing and Community Development Chair Gustavo Velasquez. A post on Supervisor Mitchell’s X/Twitter account includes a picture of officials holding shovels in what appears to be a pile of sand dumped onto the pavement.

However, when we visited the site more than six months later, on September 15, construction had not started. It remains an empty parking lot. In response to emailed questions, Wellnest VP Communications and Public Affairs Rebecca Haussling attributed the delay to “Approval of all construction permits by [the] City of Los Angeles.” She said the project will break ground this month, and has an estimated completion date of November 2025.

Another example of the county’s struggles is the 104 room former Willow Tree Inn in Compton, which the County purchased for $16.8 million in December 2020. A County Board of Supervisors motion dated December 20, 2022 allocated an additional $19 million for renovations, bringing the total cost of acquisition and construction to $35.8 million. The motel’s on-site service provider, The People Concern (TPC), reports on their website that, “Conversions Begin at Willow Tree.” There is no date on the announcement. During our repeated visits over the past several months we observed no construction activity on the property. According to the county’s “American Rescue Plan Public Portal,” the building will complete construction by April 30, 2025. Our investigation suggests this timeline is unrealistic.

A December 20, 2022 Board of Supervisors motion granted TPC a 36-month gratis lease on the Willow Tree, with a subsequent option on the nonprofit’s behalf to accept transfer of title for free. This arrangement – free rent and an option to obtain title to the properties free of charge – is not uncommon. An October 28, 2022 Board of Supervisors motion identified eight other Homekey properties for identical deals.

Delays upon delays

Federal and state regulations, as well as settlements in two federal civil rights cases in 2018 and 2024, impose numerous requirements for units to qualify as permanent supportive housing (PSH). The results are often extensive retrofits, including plumbing, electrical, and HVAC upgrades or repairs, the addition of kitchens, and installation of features required by the the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). Additionally, our investigation revealed that several of the properties are in such poor condition that they effectively need to be rebuilt.

For example, a former Best Inn motel on West Adams has been taken down to the studs. These properties likely are years away from occupancy.

In response to emailed questions, HCD Deputy Director of Communications Pablo Espinoza told us that Homekey properties “began operations as Interim Housing…and are required to convert to Permanent Housing (meaning tenants have a lease and no length limit to stay in their unit) any time before the interim affordability period expires, a term of 10 years.”

In the context of a declared homelessness emergency, a decade is a long time to bring badly needed new housing units online, especially considering that they are in existing buildings. In response to emailed questions regarding the lack of construction activity at so many Homekey sites, L.A. County Homeless Initiative spokesperson Christina Villacorte said, “The same impacts that are affecting the construction sector are also affecting Homekey projects, including inflation, the cost of supplies, and labor, which can impact the timeline of project completion.”

Villacorte said that the County has hired a “concierge” service to assist people being moved out of Homekey properties. However, we spoke to numerous residents, none of whom were able to say where or if they were being relocated. Neither HCD nor County officials could tell us how many people have been relocated successfully, or how many may have fallen back into homelessness. 

For example, in May we visited a former Extended Stay property on Sepulveda Boulevard near the 405 freeway for which the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles paid $55.3 million in 2022. We spoke with one of the few remaining residents, a woman in her early 60s. She confirmed that she was being relocated. However, she did not know where her new shelter would be, or if she would be sheltered at all. Our conversation was disrupted by a security guard for the contractor the city is paying to manage the property. He admonished us to leave the “private property.” The woman, appearing unnerved, quickly walked away.

Los Angeles County has company. Well-documented operational shortcomings and lack of oversight make it difficult if not impossible to determine just how many of the 15,000 total Homekey units in California are vacant. An April 2024 report from the State Auditor’s office concluded that the “lack of coordination among the State’s homelessness programs…hampered the effectiveness of the state’s efforts to end homelessness.” Consistent with the Current’s investigation, reporting by other outlets has revealed hundreds more vacant Homekey units around the state. It has also been reported that some properties acquired through Homekey resulted in evictions of existing residents, effectively making people homeless in order to house the homeless.

Ongoing scrutiny

The Westside Current will continue to monitor these developments, reporting on the progress—or lack thereof—as the county and city attempt to navigate the complex challenges of Project Homekey. For now, the empty rooms stand as a testament to the difficulties in translating bold initiatives into tangible solutions. Meanwhile, six people a day die on our streets—that we know of.