By Ricardo Roura
May 9, 2024, 8:00 PM EDT
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass asked the private sector for help to invest in the city and collaborate to attack the problem of homelessness.
Before some 700 attendees at the Mission Investor Exchange Conference, this Wednesday in downtown Los Angeles, Bass spoke of the need to find a way to prevent people from becoming homeless and, clearly, one of them is to make housing less expensive.
“We are not going to solve this problem, especially on the scale we have it in Los Angeles, without a public-private partnership“said the mayor to those attending the conference, who are focused on impact investment.
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“We need the private sector to invest. If only public funds are used, that is one of the reasons why it is so expensive and time-consumingbecause you have to gather multiple sources of financing, each with bureaucratic procedures, while the private sector can finish a building in a matter of months,” added Bass.
According to a survey by the Los Angeles Business Council Institute, in partnership with the Los Angeles Times, of 600 registered voters in the city, it found that 74% of people surveyed who are renters were considering emigrating due to the high cost of accommodation.
That increase in housing is reflected in the growing number of homeless people in the city of Los Angeles, which last year was found to exceed 46,000 people.
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Mayor Bass mentioned that it was necessary for everyone to work with the aim of preventing current residents from leaving the city.
Bass wants to reduce the number of people who become homelessin addition to finding accommodation for those who spend the night outdoors on the streets of Los Angeles.
The mayor too asked the city’s wealthiest residents to collaborate in this objective.
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“It’s not just that we are looking for financial support”But we’re really looking for the partnership of thinking of: How do we reduce the cost per unit?” said California Community Foundation President and CEO Miguel Santana.
“How can we deliver it faster? How do we accelerate housing development, creating ways to convert market-rate housing that may be empty into affordable housing?” Santana added.
Karen Bass also highlighted the commercial sector in downtown Los Angeles and its struggles after the COVID pandemic, saying that “Adaptive reuse” could turn those commercial buildings into housing.
Keep reading:
· City of Los Angeles receives $9 million to address homelessness crisis
· 2024 homeless count concludes in Los Angeles County
· Legendary Morrison Hotel, in downtown Los Angeles, will house homeless people