Los Angeles mayor announces affordable housing projects

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(The Center Square) – Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass says she's continuing to make affordable housing a priority.

The mayor was in South Los Angeles on Thursday to announce nearly $3 million in secured Community Project Funding for housing and transportation improvements.

Leaders gathered with Bass at a mixed-use transit plaza that includes 180 units of affordable housing, businesses and a school. The plaza benefited in 2022 from federal funding secured by then-U.S. Rep. Bass.

On Tuesday, the mayor, who's a Democrat, was in West Los Angeles to unveil an affordable housing project aimed at ending veteran homelessness.

“Forty thousand-plus affordable housing units in the pipeline, more than 750 veterans housed, street homelessness down 17.5%,” Kolby Lee, a spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office, told The Center Square, answering questions by email. “Mayor Bass is cutting red tape, reversing decades of inaction, and delivering real results that are saving lives.”

Lourdes Castro Ramirez, president and CEO of taxpayer-funded Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, is part of the effort, which involves a 53-unit development a short distance from the West VA Medical Center. 

The city and the housing authority haven't announced the cost.

Pointing to the mayor's Executive Directive 1, Castro Ramirez said Los Angeles is “transforming” the pace of housing by cutting red tape and moving with the urgency that people deserve.

“At HACLA, we are proud to do our part by pairing this accelerated production with the House Our Vets initiative — a powerful partnership that has already connected nearly 800 veterans to safe, permanent homes,” Castro Ramirez told The Center Square.

Executive Directive 1 expedites the processing of shelters and affordable housing projects in the city. Bass signed the directive in December 2022, not long after becoming mayor.

“This new ED1 development in West LA is a reminder that when Los Angeles leads with both speed and compassion, we deliver more than just a building,” Castro Ramirez told The Center Square. “We provide the dignity and stability our veterans need to begin again."

Army veteran David Sinatra was at Tuesday’s event with Bass. Sinatra said he would not be here today without the mayor’s support of homeless veterans.

“It literally saved my life, and that’s no exaggeration,” Sinatra said in a press release. “After two long, painful years living out of my truck, I finally have a place to call home and have my life back.”

In addition to thanking the mayor and HACLA, Sinatra also shared his appreciation to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as well as “all the property owners and developers who are helping us get a fresh start.”