Los Angeles spending as much as $837,000 apiece for some housing units for homeless people

The homelessness epidemic reached new heights in Los Angeles during the COVID-19 pandemic. But according to Los Angeles Controller Ron Galperin, the city’s plan to address the growing problem is too costly and too slow.

In fact, some housing units being constructed for homeless individuals are costing the city as much as $837,000 apiece, Galperin said in a new audit this week.

Los Angeles voters approved Proposition HHH in 2016, authorizing the city to issue up to $1.2 billion in general obligation bonds to address the growing homelessness problem in Los Angeles by partially subsidizing up to 10,000 supportive housing units.

But more than five years after Proposition HHH was approved, only 1,142 units have been completed, which Galperin described as “wholly inadequate in the context of the ongoing homelessness emergency.” According to his report, Los Angeles has more than 41,000 homeless people, and the figure could be even higher since the COVID-19 pandemic has prevented the city from generating an accurate count of the homeless population.

The average construction price of the housing units, Galperin explained, rose to $596,846 last year. Meanwhile, he said that 14% of units in construction exceeded $700,000 per unit, while one project currently in pre-development will cost nearly $837,000 per unit. The increase of construction costs was partly attributed to the pandemic, which caused the price of labor construction materials to skyrocket.- READ MORE