A new interim housing project that will provide approximately 30 beds is slated to open next year on the city’s bustling Westside, Los Angeles City Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky announced Monday, July 24.
The project will be constructed on an underutilized city-owned parking lot at 2377 Midvale Ave., across from the former Westside Pavilion shopping center. It will provide critically needed temporary housing for people living on the streets, according to her office, which noted in an email to constituents that there is just one interim housing unit available for every eight homeless people in Council District 5 at the moment.
District 5 covers Bel Air and Beverly Glen and stretches south to Palms, running east of the 405 freeway. It also includes neighborhoods further east, including Fairfax and La Brea.
“Anyone who has walked or driven on the Westside can tell you that the increase in the number of people living in tents is alarming,” Yaroslavsky said in a statement. “We cannot keep waiting for the problem to solve itself – we need real solutions that we know work, and we need them quickly. While thousands of units of permanent housing are being constructed across the city, no interim units are in the pipeline in Council District 5.”
More than 46,000 Angelenos are homeless on any given night, based on the most recent count conducted by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. According to Yaroslavsky’s office, when the councilmember took office in December, fewer than 100 interim housing units existed for the 1,300 unhoused people within Council District 5.
According to Yaroslavsky’s spokesperson, Leo Daube, the project will cost an estimated $60,000 per unit. That would add up to about $1.8 million if 30 units are built. Daube said Yaroslavsky’s office is working with the city to see about minimizing additional site costs.
The prefabricated housing units will be built by LifeArk. The project is expected to break ground later this…
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