Los Angeles Housing Department Seeks Funding To Repurpose Hotels Into Housing

City of Los Angeles is seeking funds for a new project that proposes to convert hotels into permanent supportive housing. Three motels are up for grabs in Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles. The project, named as Project Homekey, is a pandemic-initiated program that allows cities and counties to purchase underused hotels and repurpose them as interim or permanent housing.

Recently, in September 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom announced $2.75 billion in funding for Project Homekey. The City of Los Angeles, which created 744 homes through the initial phase of the program, is now getting to work on its second round of acquisitions.

Panorama Motel

The Los Angeles Housing Department recently released notices of intent to request roughly $30-million in federal funding for the purchase of three hotels in Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley through Project Homekey. The properties include:

• Orchid Suites – a three-story, 40-room hotel located next to the Hollywood Highland Center at 1753 Orchid Avenue. All guest rooms would be repurposed as interim housing. ($8 million)
• Super 8 Canoga Park – a two-story motel located on a .903-acre site at 7631 Topanga Canyon Boulevard which features 52 rooms. All rooms would be used as interim housing. ($14.3 million)
• Panorama Motel – a two-story, 51-room motel located at 8209 Sepulveda Boulevard in Van Nuys. All of the rooms, which are currently vacant, would be converted to interim housing. ($7.67 million)

Super 8 Motel

Los Angeles officials indicated in September that the city expects to acquire between 500 and 1,000 interim or supportive housing units using Project Homekey funds over the coming two years. To date, the City of Los Angeles has leveraged $120 million in Homekey grants with $60 million from other sources to acquire 15 properties.

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