In a departure from its main task of building and operating rail and bus lines, LA Metro will be scouring its property holdings for surplus, vacant and underused land that could be transformed into housing for the homeless.
The LA Metro Board of Directors voted unanimously on Thursday, Feb. 23 to create an inventory of surplus property — everything from unused land near a train station to empty parking lots — to turn over to a future developer for the purpose of building temporary or permanent shelter.
“Everyone knows that about 1,000 people take shelter on Metro (trains and buses) every day who are homeless,” said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who is also an LA Metro board member. “The idea of Metro property being used for affordable housing is part of that continuum.”
As part of the effort to offer up unwanted land to housing developers, LA Metro has a goal of achieving 10,000 new housing units on its excess land, the agency reported.
“People don’t look at us as a housing institution but in a way we are,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor and LA Metro Board member Hilda Solis. “This is something close to your heart and mine.”
Usually, developers snatch up land adjacent to new Metro train lines for luxury apartments. From Pasadena to downtown Los Angeles to Highland Park and easterly to Monrovia, apartments and townhomes have been built and occupied by working professionals wanting a quick, car-less ride to and from work in Los Angeles, Pasadena, East Los Angeles or Long Beach.
Solis spoke of an affordable housing complex with 232 units built on land once reserved for a new county jail at 1060 North Vignes St., near L.A. Union Station. She said adjacent land owned by LA Metro could be used for similar purposes.
Right after the vote, other offers started pouring in for affordable housing locations.
Pomona Mayor Tim Sandoval suggested an affordable housing development could be built on or near a parking lot adjacent to the North Pomona L…
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