L.A. approves $466 million in affordable housing | Real Estate news

Los Angeles is set to go on an affordable housing spending spree.

On Tuesday, the City Council unanimously accepted $466.6 million in funding that can be doled out to builders, nonprofits, land trusts and other organizations to construct and renovate affordable housing.

The pool of money is the biggest in the town housing division’s historical past, topping last 12 months’s $387 million. Roughly 70% of the document finances will come from Measure ULA, the so-called mansion tax, which levies a 4% or 5.5% tax on L.A. property gross sales above $5.4 million.

Accountability was top of thoughts during Tuesday’s City Council assembly. The spending plan, which now awaits Mayor Karen Bass’ approval, contains an modification requiring the housing division to present quarterly updates on where the money goes, as effectively as project timelines and any important delays or challenges.

“We need to follow these dollars and make sure they’re producing the affordable housing Angelenos deserve,” Councilmember Imelda Padilla said at the assembly.

The funding must be a boon for L.A. builders, many of whom have stopped building multi-family tasks because it’s laborious to flip a revenue — and many of whom blame Measure ULA for disincentivizing construction and lowering the average sale price of multi-family models, which has dropped roughly 30% in L.A. County over the last 5 years.

Applications for the funds open Oct. 13 and close Dec. 4. The housing division will announce the recipients in February.

Last 12 months, the town awarded $360.9 million to 80 tasks that promise the construction of 1,288 new affordable models and the preservation of 3,713 models, largely clustered around downtown L.A., South L.A. and Koreatown, with a number of others in San Pedro and the San Fernando Valley.

Not all the money from last 12 months was allotted; roughly $30 million is being rolled over into the new funding spherical.

Of this 12 months’s pool, $123 million will go toward multi-family affordable housing with 40 or more models, and $115 million will go toward tasks looking for low-income housing tax credit.

There’s also $104 million for various fashions of new construction, $38 million for stabilizing current affordable housing, $32 million for buying and rehabbing affordable models, $27 million for preserving current models and $25 million for preserving models dealing with financial challenges.

“LAHD is very excited about the opportunities …t o produce more affordable housing and stabilize the city’s housing stock,” said Tiena Johnson Hall, the housing division’s basic supervisor. “This is a unique opportunity and will create real and sustainable change in the affordable housing landscape.”

Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, who is chair of the newly created Homelessness and Health Committee, said the money will help working households, senior residents and people with disabilities keep in the neighborhoods they call home. She credited Measure ULA for “turning the will of Los Angeles voters into concrete solutions that build and preserve affordable housing.”

Measure ULA has raised more than $1.3 billion since it took impact in 2023 and has been the first driver of the last two funding rounds, which before the tax had usually ranged between $50 million and $75 million.

Until just lately, metropolis leaders have been hesitant to commit Measure ULA funds over issues that the tax might be overturned in court.

But as legal challenges light, the town announced ULA spending plans of $425 million last 12 months and $544 million this 12 months. Whereas the plan accepted by the council Tuesday grants funding to third events, the $425-million and $544-million plans are for the town authorities to spend on affordable housing and homelessness initiatives.