Los Angeles moves to convert underused city buildings into facilities for unhoused residents

A few months after taking office in December, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass directed administrators this week to provide her with an inventory of city properties that could shelter unhoused residents. Bass, a former social worker and physician’s assistant, campaigned on a political platform that centered around humanely addressing the city’s crisis of homelessness.

“I am making sure that the City of Los Angeles holds nothing back when it comes to bringing people inside and providing them with the support they need to stay inside for good,” Bass said. “To save lives, restore our neighborhoods and house Angelenos immediately, we must urgently prioritize underutilized existing city-owned property.”

The executive directive requires that, within 20 days, Bass’s office be provided with “an inventory of unused and underutilized city property that could be used for temporary or permanent housing with on-site services,” according to a statement. 

Once the properties have been formally accounted for, formal assessments by WHO will follow. Based on those assessments, “the Mayor’s Office designates what type of housing should be built on which locations,” the statement continues.

The directive, which follows an Emergency Declaration on Homelessness issued by Bass soon after taking office, also eliminates unnecessary review processes, extra paperwork, and red tape, and authorizes city departments to build additional structures and convert existing buildings for necessary services.

The emergency measure launched an initiative called Inside Safe, a proactive strategy that’s intended to bring unhoused people inside, and prevent encampments from returning. 

Last month, Los Angeles County followed suit, issuing a similar emergency order.

Homelessness is a well documented problem in Los Angeles and the broader region, which is home to about one in every five homeless persons in the United States. Given its high percentage of homelessness, the city’s efforts to mitigate the issue is being closely watched by officials across the nation. Most recently, an annual report from the Los Angeles Longitudinal Enumeration and Demographic Survey (LA LEADS) Project found the number of unsheltered and unhoused people in Hollywood, Skid Row, and Venice increased by 18% from September 2021 to October 2022. This finding notably conflicts with last year’s homelessness count from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, which reported last summer that homelessness in the city was leveling off. The homelessness services authority announced Monday it had completed this year’s count, with publication of the data expected by the summer.

Of more than 400 people living without shelter surveyed for LA LEADS’ report, almost 80% said they’d been continuously homeless for more than a year, and 57% for more than three years. About half reported a chronic physical or mental health condition.

“Ninety percent of respondents indicated interest in receiving housing, and 29 percent reported currently being on a wait list for housing,” reads the report, which was put together by Rand Corp. “Around 85 percent of respondents said they would accept offers of placement into permanent supportive housing, a hotel or motel, or a private shelter setting.”

The primary reasons cited for not moving into a shelter were: never being contacted for move-in (44%), lack of privacy (40%), housing safety (35%), and paperwork issues (29%).

“Findings on the housing needs and preferences of unsheltered Angelenos suggest that policymakers should concentrate on housing solutions that incorporate privacy and autonomy and that expanding congregate shelter capacity may not be effective in reducing the unsheltered population,” the report continues.

Looking ahead, Bass wants to see 17,000 unhoused people moved off the streets into housing. Converting unused public buildings into housing facilities is one piece of Bass’ broader plan. Earlier this month, the city and county received $196.2 million from the state for multifamily and infill development.

“With more than 40,000 Angelenos living unhoused today, the time to clear bureaucratic delays at all levels of government is now. We all must act with urgency, and that’s what the state is doing with this initiative,” Bass said.