LA County breaks ground on project that will bring mental health beds to century-old Norwalk campus

Los Angeles County broke ground Friday on a project that will bring dozens of new mental health beds and supportive housing to the sprawling, 110-year-old Metropolitan State Hospital campus in Norwalk.

Led by Supervisor Janice Hahn, the project includes a renovation of some of the decaying buildings on the site into 32 treatment beds within locked facilities. The $65 million in funding comes from Proposition 1, the state’s mental health funding bond passed in 2024.

“One of the biggest challenges we face in Los Angeles County right now is that we simply do not have enough places where people can get the compassionate, professional mental health care that they need,” Hahn said before the groundbreaking.

In all, county leaders plan to have 162 beds at the so-called Mental Health Care Campus, ranging from locked psychiatric beds to permanent supportive housing.

California State Senator Bob Archuleta (L) and LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn stand in front of a rendering of a remodeled bedroom at the Metropolitan State Hospital Campus in Norwalk.

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Robert Garrova

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LAist

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Hahn said part of the idea is to get help for people who have been cycling out of emergency rooms and incarceration.

“This Care Village really is a big step forward showing people that there’s a different way that we can get help to the people who need it most,” she told LAist.

At a meeting last year, county supervisors voted to sign off on a lease with the state for a 13-acre portion of the campus. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill from Sen. Bob Archuleta in 2024 that cleared the way for the lease.

One of the buildings that will be renovated into supportive housing at the Metropolitan State Hospital campus in Norwalk.

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Robert Garrova

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LAist

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The historic site 

Run by the state, the psychiatric hospital opened in 1916 and at its peak housed thousands of patients. These days, with its 162 acres, overgrown grass and boarded up buildings, the place feels mostly abandoned.

Some of the buildings feature large windows that architectural mock ups provided by the county show will remain intact, allowing light to flow into large indoor communal spaces. Officials have also said the plan is to preserve the architectural features of the buildings, which have historical landmark status.

The interior in one of the future 16-bed facilities at the Metropolitan State Hospital.

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Robert Garrova

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Laist

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What’s next

The plan is to bring several levels of care together on one campus. In all, the project calls for renovating six of the buildings on the site.

That includes:

• 32 locked psychiatric care beds, which will serve young adults between 18-25 who have acute mental health needs.
• 70 interim housing beds and short-term housing with on-site mental health services.
• 60 permanent supportive Housing apartments. These will be reserved for adults with serious mental illness who were previously unhoused.

The county’s plan also includes a shared community building with a kitchen and communal dining space.

The county estimates the interim housing will be completed late next year, with the locked beds coming in early 2028. The county did not yet have a timeline for the permanent supportive housing beds.