The Brief

Even in L.A.’s famously overheated real estate market, the profit — and quick turnaround — on a senior housing complex in the Cheviot Hills neighborhood seemed extraordinary.

The man at the center of the deal, since identified by federal prosecutors as Brentwood landlord and developer Steven Taylor, bought the property on Shelby Drive in 2023 for $11.2 million, purchase records show.

He wasn’t planning to hold on to the complex for long. At the time of his purchase, a company owned by Taylor already was in escrow to sell the complex to Weingart Center, a major homeless housing provider, for more than double what he paid, according to a purchase agreement obtained through a public records request.

The $27.3 million to pay for that acquisition came from taxpayer grant funds authorized by city and state officials, according to grant documentation. L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom touted the purchase as a key tool in the fight against homelessness.

The deal called for Taylor’s involvement to be kept secret, according to a confidentiality clause included in the purchase contract obtained through a public records request.

That changed last month, when federal authorities announced criminal charges against Taylor. He’s accused of submitting fraudulent documents to borrow money from private lenders when he bought this and other properties.

At a news conference, the region’s top federal prosecutor, Bill Essayli, said the investigation is ongoing.

Taylor was arrested in August, when the case was under seal, and pleaded not guilty, court records show. It’s the first of the two known criminal cases brought so far by the federal task force Essayli assembled in April to investigate fraud and corruption around the use of billions of dollars earmarked to combat homelessness in Southern California.

Essayli announced the task force after a court-ordered review and a federal audit found city and state officials have failed to properly track homeless funds and protect against fraud.

Taylor and his attorney, Michael Freedman, have not responded to LAist’s phone messages for comment.

LAist’s review of the Cheviot Hills property deal found the purchase stands out not just for its high price tag but for the complexity and secrecy surrounding it.

The records reviewed by LAist show:

• A purchase agreement shows Taylor was in escrow to buy the property when city and state officials agreed to use taxpayer funds to buy it from him for $27 million.
• Weingart Center’s application for state funding included an appraisal report containing inaccurate information about who owned the property and did not mention the pending sale.
• L.A. Mayor Karen Bass’ office had a “big role” in the city’s process that recommended this property and two others for the government grants, according to an email from a top executive at the city housing department. 
• A Weingart Center leader said the property, now known as Weingart Shelby, isn’t expected to open until next year, despite the grant originally requiring it to be fully occupied by February 2025.

Bass’ office did not answer questions regarding the purchase. In a statement to LAist, the mayor’s office said the Shelby site “remains an important property providing interim housing in an area of the city that has extremely limited interim housing supply” and that the city is cooperating with the ongoing federal investigation.

Weingart Center’s longtime president and CEO, Kevin Murray, whose signature is on the purchase deal, has not responded to LAist’s requests for comment. He previously told the L.A. Times he had “no prior relationship with the seller and no continuing relationship” and that taxpayers paid fair market price.

Murray and Weingart Center’s chief of real estate development, Ben Rosen, have been placed on leave, according to news reports last month. Rosen also has not responded to LAist’s requests for comment.

The nonprofit’s board has elevated Chief Operating Officer Tonja Boykin to lead Weingart Center and has commissioned an outside investigation, a spokesperson for the nonprofit told LAist.

“In light of recent reporting raising questions concerning the valuation of certain homeless housing projects, we have retained an outside law firm to conduct an internal review of related subjects,” said the statement from spokesperson Stefan Friedman.

This summer, city leaders in Torrance publicly raised concerns that the group was massively overpaying for a hotel property under another round of state homelessness grants.

An LAist review also found Weingart Center has received more than $100 million from taxpayers despite failing to comply with audit requirements since 2022. The latest available audit, of the fiscal year ending April 2023, concluded the organization had multiple failures in tracking taxpayer money it was handling.

(Click here to read another LAist article, also published today, about financial concerns around other Weingart Center activities.)

Weingart Center’s spokesperson said the group remains committed to addressing homelessness, including serving almost 2,000 people daily through interim and permanent supportive housing sites across L.A.

Bass’ office had a ‘big role’ in selection process, per city email

In spring 2023, the city of L.A. was on a third round of state Homekey grants — a program launched by California in 2020 as a way to quickly expand the homeless housing supply, initially by buying motels and hotels and renovating them.

Weingart Center was one of about two dozen groups that submitted 31 proposals to the city in March 2023, according to city records.

Under Homekey, cities and counties can partner with nonprofit or for-profit developers to apply for the grants. If chosen, the non-government partner buys the property with the grant money, and the partnering city or county chips in a sizable amount of money too.

Weingart Center initially proposed an existing hotel property in Harbor Gateway, along the 110 Freeway, in their grant application.

Then, in a May email to city officials, Bass' director of affordable housing production said they’d “identified a new potential site for Weingart,” listing the Shelby Drive address. Weingart changed the proposal to the Shelby site in West L.A. in May 2023, records show.

“The mayor's office did play a big role in the selection process,” states an email from Eric Claros, director of housing at the city’s housing department, which LAist obtained as part of an open records request.

Claros and a spokesperson for the housing department declined to speak to LAist about the selection process.

In late May 2023, Bass’ office informed the office of Katy Yaroslavsky — the city councilmember who represents Cheviot Hills — “that they planned to include the Shelby property in the city's application for Project Homekey 3.0 funding,” according to Yaroslavsky’s office.

A few days later, on June 9, 2023, the city’s housing department officially recommended that the City Council approve the Shelby property as one of three projects to receive city funding and to jointly apply for Homekey grants.

Taylor signs deal to buy the property

On June 16, 2023, less than a week after city staff publicly recommended the Shelby project for state funding, Taylor went into escrow to buy the property from Bridge, according to a copy of that purchase agreement the city disclosed to LAist. The price negotiated at that point is redacted in the copy the city disclosed.

Taylor signed the deal to buy the property on behalf of an LLC he later said he was the sole owner of, according to an email disclosed by the city.

Twelve days later, the City Council took the housing department’s recommendation and officially approved the Shelby property as one of three sites the city would partner on to unlock state grant funds. In doing so, the city agreed to pay $20 million toward the purchase to unlock the other $7 million from the state to purchase the property.

The project called for another $15 million in state funds to be set aside for renovating and preparing the property after the acquisition, plus another $15 million in city and state funds to cover at least four years of operations.

The state says the money it gave for the purchase and renovation came from federal dollars given to states during the COVID-19 pandemic.

(Click here to see a breakdown of taxpayer funds the city and state committed to the project.)

The taxpayer-funded deal to buy from Taylor

Murray signed the agreement for the Weingart Center to buy the property from Taylor for $27.3 million in taxpayer funds July 26, 2023, according to a copy of the purchase agreement the city released in response to a public records request. At that time, neither Taylor nor his affiliated companies owned the Shelby site.

The agreement states Murray, on behalf of Weingart Center, acknowledged the seller — Taylor — didn’t own the property but was in escrow to buy it.

As part of the purchase agreement, Murray — one of the two Weingart Center executives now on leave — agreed that Weingart Center — the taxpayer-funded buyer — never would identify Taylor to the public or news media as the seller, nor would it reveal the deal’s terms, outside of narrow exceptions.

The deal also said it was expected that an “affiliate” of Taylor would buy the property from its owner and complete the sale.

Appraisal problems

Ahead of the sale, the Homekey grant application required a property appraisal, which Murray commissioned and received in July 2023. LAist obtained a copy of the appraisal from the city through a public records request.

The Shelby appraisal report doesn’t mention that the property was under contract at the time to be sold. The state’s requirements for Homekey appraisals say the reports should include information about any pending sales of the property being appraised.

Instead, the appraisal states Weingart Center was buying the property directly from its then-owner for $27.3 million. The report incorrectly identifies the owner as an LLC owned by Taylor. As a title report attached to the appraisal shows, the property still was owned at the time by the subsidiary of Bridge.

The appraisal report gave several estimates for the property’s value, depending on the method.

When looking at nearby sales of apartment complexes and adjusting for differences, the appraisal estimated the Shelby property’s value would be $19.4 million — about $8 million less than what taxpayers were paying and $7 million more than Taylor was paying.

Other methods in the appraisal generated higher value estimates, including two estimates right around $27.3 million — the amount the report says Weingart Center already had agreed to pay for the property. Those methods looked at similar sales of assisted living facilities and the estimated income the property would garner as an assisted living facility.

The company that conducted the appraisal, BBG, defended its process to LAist.

“The appraiser handled the appraisal assignment correctly with the information they were given,” said Peter Christensen, BBG’s general counsel and chief compliance officer.

Weingart Center sent a copy of the appraisal to the state housing department July 27, 2023, as part of its application with the city for Homekey funds.

State approves grant

With the appraisal and other application materials in hand, state officials awarded over $22 million in Homekey money toward the purchase and renovation of the Shelby property in November 2023.

Records show a business that had Taylor as its point of contact completed the purchase of the Shelby property for $11.2 million Dec. 26, 2023. It was six months after Taylor entered escrow to buy it and about a month after state officials committed to fund Weingart Center’s purchase for double that amount.

The taxpayer money changed hands in April 2024, when Weingart closed on buying it from the company linked to Taylor. No improvements to the property were documented in city permit records during that time.

The Homekey grants are overseen by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), led since 2020 by Gov. Gavin Newsom appointee Gustavo Velasquez.

The department declined to answer questions about their approval of the Shelby grant, following the federal announcement. A spokesperson cited the ongoing investigation, saying the department is cooperating with the U.S. Attorney’s office, which “has made it clear the department is a mere witness in this matter.”

Delays in opening

In addition to the $27 million in public funds to buy the property, Weingart Center was approved to spend another $15 million in state funds for renovations and other costs to prepare it to become housing for people in need of shelter.

The state grant originally required Weingart Center to finish all construction and rehabilitation work by Nov. 21, 2024, and have the housing units fully occupied by Feb. 21.

Those deadlines have moved significantly, as work on the facility continues and runs into problems like asbestos and mold, according to city permit records and state records.

What’s next

Weingart Center says upgrades aren’t expected to be completed until late February 2026, more than a year later than the original schedule. The state has granted multiple extensions, with the deadline for full occupancy now set at April 21, 2026.

LAist reporters Ted Rohrlich, Jordan Rynning and Elly Yu contributed to this story.

Renters in Los Angeles County who fall behind on rent by up to two months could soon be protected from eviction under a new rule forwarded Tuesday by the L.A. County Board of Supervisors.

The board voted 4-1 to forward the new rule, which still needs a second vote before taking effect. Supervisor Kathryn Barger cast the lone no vote.

The proposal builds on an existing rule that gives renters protection from eviction if they’re late on rent by up to one month’s worth of the region’s “fair market rent” as determined by the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department.

Citing economic hardship many families are facing because of federal immigration raids, county supervisors decided to raise the existing one-month threshold to two months. The change, which landlords opposed, will mean that tenants in a two-bedroom apartment can be late on rent by up to $5,202 and still have local protections enabling them to fight an eviction in court.

“ICE raids have been devastating our entire region,” said Supervisor Lindsey Horvath. “We’ve heard clearly today that more protection is needed.”

Two months could turn into three 

Horvath said she would introduce another motion to hold a follow-up vote next Tuesday on increasing the threshold to three months and making it apply countywide. Her statement came in response to tenant advocates who said the change didn’t go far enough, in part because it only applies in unincorporated parts of L.A. County, not in the region’s 88 incorporated cities.

Horvath said making the protections apply countywide is possible under the county’s emergency declaration tied to the federal immigration raids.

Tenant advocates have been calling for stronger renter protections since the Trump administration deployed more immigration agents and sent troops into Los Angeles last summer. Andrea Gonzalez, deputy director of the Clean Carwash Worker Center, said families urgently need relief after the detention of more than 370 local car wash workers.

“Many of the folks who have been taken are the main providers or the breadwinners of their family, which has now caused and left their families facing the probability of being evicted because of the economic instability that these raids have caused to our community,” Gonzalez told the board during public comment.

Tenant relief or ‘policy extremism’? 

Landlords said the move was an overreach.

Fred Sutton, a spokesperson for the California Apartment Association, described the proposal as “policy extremism disguised as compassion.”

“Housing providers are not banks, and housing policy should not be built on compelled non-payment,” Sutton said.

He said stricter limits on eviction would lead to tighter tenant screening by landlords, which would reduce housing options for many tenants.

The proposal still needs to come back to the Board of Supervisors for a final vote. Tuesday’s vote instructed county lawyers to present a final ordinance within 30 days.

The Winter Olympics are set to open this Friday in Italy, some 4,600 miles away from Minneapolis, the epicenter of the uproar over the Trump administration's hardline immigration enforcement tactics.

As American athletes turn their attention to the Games here, some — including several from Minnesota, which is home to some of Team USA's biggest stars — have spoken out in the wake of the shooting deaths of two U.S. citizens by federal agents in January.

"I want to make sure you know who I'm racing for when I get to the start line at the Olympics," wrote Jessie Diggins, the cross-country skiing star and three-time Olympic medalist, in a statement she posted to her Instagram on Saturday alongside a photo of herself celebrating with an American flag at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing.

"I'm racing for an American people who stand for love, for acceptance, for compassion, honesty and respect for others. I do not stand for hate or violence or discrimination," the post continued. Diggins, 34, grew up in Afton, Minn., less than an hour's drive from downtown Minneapolis. She is expected to compete in six cross-country events at the Olympics this month and could contend for a medal in all of them.

The day after 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti was shot to death by Customs and Border Protection agents on a Minneapolis street, Team USA hockey player Kelly Pannek paused a post-game press conference for her professional team, the Minnesota Frost, to call the aggressive immigration enforcement "unnecessary and just horrifying."

"It's obviously really heavy," said Pannek, who is from the Minneapolis suburb of Plymouth, as her Frost teammate and fellow Team USA member Taylor Heise — another Minnesota native — nodded. "What I'm most proud to represent is the tens of thousands of people that show up on some of the coldest days of the year to stand and fight for what they believe in."

Other Olympians who are not from Minnesota, including snowboarders Stacy Gaskill of Denver and Bea Kim of Palos Verdes, Calif., have spoken out in advance of the Games. "The Olympics are more than just sport. They represent global unity and peace," wrote the 19-year-old Kim in a post on Sunday. "Diversity is what makes the United States so special. It is woven into the very fabric of our country."

The Winter Olympians join a vocal chorus of prominent athletes who have spoken up about the Trump administration's tactics in Minneapolis.

Indiana Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton, who was part of Team USA's gold medal run at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, wrote that Pretti "was murdered," and the three-time Olympic gold medalist Breanna Stewart held a sign that read "Abolish ICE" at a game for the 3-on-3 league Unrivaled last week. "I think that when human lives are at stake, it's bigger than anything else," she said in a press conference afterward.

In Milan, a hospitality space for friends and family of Team USA athletes was renamed over the weekend to drop the word "ice" from the name.

In a statement, the three governing bodies who operate the newly-named "Winter House" said that the new name would better suit the intent of the space, which was originally called the "Ice House."

"Our hospitality concept was designed to be a private space free of distractions where athletes, their families, and friends can come together to celebrate the unique experience of the Winter Games," reads a statement released by U.S. Figure Skating, USA Hockey and US Speed Skating of the name change, which was first reported by USA Today. "This name captures that vision and connects to the season and the event."
Copyright 2026 NPR

This story was originally published by Boyle Heights Beat on Jan. 2, 2026.

Three Eastside walking clubs are hosting silent peace walks this week in East L.A., El Sereno and Montebello to support community members affected by recent immigration enforcement sweeps.

Called “For the Love of Our Communities: Peaceful Walks of Silence,” the idea sprouted last Wednesday, when communities on the Eastside saw one of the heaviest days of immigration enforcement since the raids began last June. Eastside L.A. Walking Club founder, Brissa Sanchez, wanted to host an event for people who want to show collective solidarity in their community, especially those who don’t feel safe or comfortable participating in massive protests.

“A lot of us are probably feeling depleted of exuding all this energy towards showing up in different ways, whether it’s at a protest or constantly being bombarded with everything that we’re seeing on social (media),” said Sanchez.

So last week, she reached out to other local walking clubs who were interested in participating. At the East L.A. Walking Club gathering on Wednesday, Sanchez will lead the group through relaxing breathing exercises, she said.

The walks are in honor of “our neighbors that have been affected by our horrible political climate,” the El Sereno Walking Club wrote in an Instagram story.

Participants are encouraged to bring candles and flowers, some of which may be provided onsite. The walks are meant to be a space where neighbors can be present with one another and “grieve together,” rather than march and protest, the post says.

“These walks are a moment to be present with one another, to walk quietly, and to move through our city with care.”

Last week, federal immigration agents and their vehicles were spotted in Boyle Heights and East L.A., and at least 6 people were taken in the operations.

On Friday, Los Angeles communities came together to protest during the “ICE Out” National Day of Action, marching from City Hall in downtown L.A. to Boyle Heights and back.

Find a silent walk near you:

Montebello

The Montebello Walking Club will meet Monday, Feb. 2, and Wednesday, Feb. 4, at 5 p.m. at Montebello City Hall.

East L.A.

The East L.A. Walking Club will meet Wednesday, Feb. 4, at 6 p.m. at 5718 Whittier Blvd. The route is posted on the club’s Instagram page.

El Sereno

The El Sereno Walking Club will meet Sunday, Feb. 8, at 8 a.m. The route will be posted on the club’s Instagram page.

The Trump administration is scaling back plans for this year's field test of the 2030 census, raising concerns about the Census Bureau's ability to produce a reliable population tally for redistributing political representation and federal funding in the next decade.

The 2026 test was designed to help the bureau improve the accuracy of the United States' upcoming once-a-decade head count. A mix of communities in six states, as well as a national sample of households, was expected to take part in the experiment.

But the agency is now set to reduce the number of test sites to two — Huntsville, Ala., and Spartanburg, S.C. — while adding plans to try replacing temporary census workers with U.S. Postal Service staff, according to a Federal Register notice that was made available for public inspection Monday before its official publication.

The bureau is also cutting a plan to provide Spanish- and Chinese-language versions of the census test's online form, which is now set to be available only in English. Households can start using the form to respond sometime in the spring, the bureau's website now says, and if they don't, they may get a visit from a census or postal worker.

Spokespeople for the bureau and its parent agency, the Commerce Department, did not immediately respond to NPR's questions, including those about what prompted these changes. In a statement Monday announcing the "launch of the 2026 Census Test," the bureau said it "remains committed to conducting the most accurate count in history for the 2030 Census and looks forward to the continued partnership with local communities."

Census test plans for rural communities and Indigenous tribal lands are cut

Among the locations no longer part of the census test are rural communities in western Texas and Indigenous tribal lands within Arizona and North Carolina. Those include the Fort Apache Reservation, home to the White Mountain Apache Tribe; San Carlos Reservation, home to the San Carlos Apache Tribe; and the Qualla Boundary, home to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

Terri Ann Lowenthal — a census consultant, who was once staff director of a former congressional subcommittee on the national count — calls this development on the road to the 2030 census "disheartening."

"The descoped 2026 test plan is confusing and unclear to the public — a product, regrettably, of the administration pulling a black-out shade over all planning for 2030," Lowenthal said in a statement. "Equally troubling, we already know from the last census that not fully evaluating promising new methods and improved operations, for example in rural areas and on American Indian reservations, can lead to a less accurate count in many communities."

The cutbacks to the test come after the bureau has refused to update lawmakers in Congress charged with overseeing its work and after the administration disbanded all the bureau's committees of outside advisers, who previously received periodic briefings on 2030 census planning during public meetings.

Over the past year, the bureau, which is the federal government's largest statistical agency, has also had multiple departures of experienced staff members as part of the Trump administration's slashing of the federal workforce.

In a statement, Democratic Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan said he was "alarmed" by the bureau's announcement about significantly cutting testing.

"When the Census Bureau doesn't accurately count people, the communities most in need lose out on critical resources," said Peters, the top Democrat overseeing the bureau on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. "I have long pushed the Census Bureau to conduct robust testing of strategies to reach historically undercounted communities to ensure that every person gets counted. I urge the Census Bureau to reverse its decision and conduct the 2026 Census Test with all six of the communities as planned."

Dante Moreno, a lobbyist for local governments at the National League of Cities, says leaders of some of the canceled test sites were informed of the bureau's changes on Monday after months without updates. The test's new focus on online census responses has now raised more concerns.

"Rural areas in general are just less likely to have cell service or internet service. So how do you fill out those questionnaires? Or if your home is a mile away from another home, how do you make sure that people know that you exist there, that they know to come to you so you get counted?" Moreno says.

Similar questions are on the minds of the Indigenous tribal leaders whose communities are no longer invited to participate in the test, says Saundra Mitrovich, a census consultant with the Native American Rights Fund, who co-leads the Natives Count Coalition.

"Many of our native populations are also dealing with language assistance concerns. And when we can't rightly respond to that or participate in pulling together an operations plan that will address that adequately, then it becomes a challenge. Are you listening to our communities? Are you upholding that federal trust responsibility for tribes?" says Mitrovich, who is a tribal citizen of the Berry Creek Rancheria of Maidu Indians of California.

Exactly how postal workers will help with the census test is unclear

Preparations for this census test have already suffered from delays in raising public awareness and finalizing a staffing plan, partly due to uncertain funding from Congress. And the bureau had been waiting for months for a White House agency to approve a plan to contact administrators of college dorms, nursing homes and other group-living quarters to get ready for counting. The bureau's Monday announcement about its revised test plan makes no mention of group quarters.

Bringing on Postal Service workers to help conduct the census test is expected to raise a raft of questions among both advocates of the count and USPS. A 2011 Government Accountability Office report found that replacing temporary census workers with higher-paid mail carriers is not cost-effective. Still, such a move has had the vocal support of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who has claimed it could save the government money.

USPS spokesperson Albert Ruiz referred NPR's questions, including whether postal workers would be expected to work for the census test in addition to their regular jobs, to the Commerce Department.

"The United States Postal Service looks forward to participating in the 2026 Operational Test in Support of the 2030 Census," Ruiz added.

Edited by Benjamin Swasey
Copyright 2026 NPR