Trying To Address Homeless Crisis, LA Council OKs Buying A 300-Room Hotel

It’s a bold — and controversial — proposal. And it was approved Friday amid community support and opposition.

At the request of Mayor Karen Bass, L.A. city councilmembers voted 12-2 to purchase the nearly 300-room Mayfair Hotel near downtown, to turn it into temporary housing for unhoused people.

Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez — who represents the Westlake neighborhood where the hotel is located — said she remains concerned about a lack of community outreach by the mayor’s team but that she believes buying the hotel is a necessary step to add more housing to address the homeless crisis.

“I will hold all the stakeholders accountable, including the mayor's office and the mayor's team that has been rolling this through — and not in the best way,” Hernandez said just before the vote.

“I still have a lot of concerns, but I'm not going to take the gas off of it.”

The no votes were by councilmembers Monica Rodriguez and Tim McOsker, who applauded Hernandez’s efforts to address community concerns but said they couldn’t support the purchase.

“I just have frustrations because it always feels that it's the same community that bears the burden,” Rodriguez said.

“There are certain communities that are availed far more opportunities to provide community input than what's happened in the Pico Union, Westlake area — and that for me is very problematic,” she said.

It will be the first time the city buys a hotel for the mayor’s Inside Safe temporary housing program.

The mayor says this will ultimately save the city money on hotel rooms for unhoused people.

The idea is that early next year, the Mayfair would become part of the mayor’s Inside Safe motel shelter program and replace the L.A. Grand Hotel, where the city is leasing rooms for $154 per day.

The Mayfair would reduce that cost to $83 per day, according to the mayor’s staff. That estimate is based on $47 per day for operations and $36 daily for the purchase costs divided over 30 years.

But nearby residents and business owners have been urging the city not to move forward, pointing to a host of problems when the Mayfair was used as an emergency shelter during the coronavirus pandemic.

They say unhoused people would hang out around the hotel and use drugs and alcohol and play loud music.

And the city ultimately paid out $11.5 million to the Mayfair’s owner to resolve claims of property destruction from when the hotel was used as a shelter for unhoused people.

Plans for the purchase

Bass and her staff say this time will be different. Under the mayor’s plans, they say the hotel will have much more on-site services, activities, security and building management to support people living at the Mayfair and keep the area safe.

And 24/7 security staff will make sure people don’t gather outside the hotel, according to the nonprofit Weingart Center that would manage the building.

“We will have case management, we will have housing navigation, mental health and substance abuse [services],” said Jenna Hornstock, the deputy mayor for housing, at a council committee meeting Wednesday.

Hornstock added that plans for the hotel include a coordinator to organize activities for people living there and on-site medical support.

“We, as a city, have committed to aggressive action to address unsheltered homelessness,” she said.

“And this acquisition is a big move and show of force in that direction.”

Council raises concerns, but backs the purchase

Multiple councilmembers who voted for the purchase expressed concerns about a lack of community outreach by the mayor’s team. And they underscored the need to make sure the city honors its commitment so that the Mayfair will have a minimal impact on the surrounding community when it opens next year as temporary housing for people experiencing homelessness.

“I know what it's like to live in and now to represent a community where the city's promises to neighbors about bridge housing were broken,” said Councilmember Traci Park.

“And I can tell you that when promises like that are broken, it is hard to come back.”

Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson said that’s a real issue – and that he’s committing to pushing the city to do better when it comes to the Mayfair.

“I live in a part of the city where the city has said over and over, ‘We'll do this, we'll do that.’ And you look up six months later and nobody's home, and you can't get an answer to your question. You can only get excuses for why it isn't done,” he said.

“So I want to personally bear witness to that reality and commit to – with you and all the members of this council – to changing it and making this a place where neighborhoods can count on their city government.”

Hernandez said other parts of the city also need to step up and host more interim housing.

“Every neighborhood in our city, and every district in our city, has to play a role in solving our housing and homelessness crisis,” she said.

All six of the other councilmembers who spoke about the purchase credited Hernandez’ handling of the situation, saying she’s worked hard to address neighbors’ concerns while supporting the housing effort.

She and Councilmember Bob Blumenfield proposed a series of amendments to the Mayfair purchase plan – that were approved by the council – that include a minimum number of security staff in and around the hotel and $400,000 for extra cleaning of nearby sidewalks, streets and bus shelters.

Community members speak out

The group Westlake South Neighbors has complained about the lack of outreach to the surrounding community.

“The Mayor’s office is attempting to railroad this project through with not one public notice, not one community meeting and no outreach to the predominantly Latino neighborhood,” the group wrote in a recent news release ahead of Friday’s vote.

During a city council committee meeting on Wednesday, most public commenters opposed the sale.

Bass has echoed themes expressed by councilmembers during Friday’s meeting and recently told the L.A. Times that she and her team will be doing outreach so nearby residents “understand that this is going to be a different program.”

How much will it cost

The total estimated price tag for buying the Mayfair is $83 million. That includes $60 million for the purchase, $19 million for renovations and about $4 million for other costs.

The estimated operating costs are $5 million per year.

Altogether, the mayor’s Inside Safe program is estimated to have cost $32 million through the end of June, with nearly 1,500 people entering motels up through Aug. 11.

About 1,100 remained in the motels and about 120 people were in permanent housing at that point.