COVID-19, lapses in federal support delay L.A.'s landmark affordable housing initiative

2020-07-01T10:42:00-04:00

Already sharply criticized for its slow progress and rising costs, the $1.2-billion bond program is in a new slump. A Times analysis of data from the Los Angeles Housing and Community Investment Department shows that 57 projects have fallen behind schedule since January. Of those, 21 were pushed back more than six months.

Doug Smith of The Los Angeles Times checks in on the progress (or lack thereof) on a variety of affordable housing projects initiated through the L.A.'s Proposition HHH bill. The report states that delays caused by COVID-19 have been exacerbated in recent months due to a shortage of Section 8 housing vouchers, leaving many projects unable to move forward with design and construction.

John Arnold, a partner with Killefer Flammang Architects, tells Smith that the firm's HHH projects have been impacted by the various slowdowns, explaining, “The general feeling is everything is slow.”

Airbnb helps the homeless while getting involved with L.A.'s City Council

2016-10-25T13:27:00-04:00

After being criticized for helping to displace renters by inadvertently motivating landlords to turn long-term rentals into short-term hotel-like quarters, Airbnb is getting political and donating $100,000 to Los Angeles' Proposition HHH, which would require city officials to raise tax dollars to build 10,000 units of homeless housing. According to an article in the L.A. Times:

"The contribution comes as a proposed ordinance to regulate short-term rentals is working its way to the City Council. The measure, approved in June by the Los Angeles Planning Commission, would limit short-term rentals to 180 days per year, exclude rent-controlled units and impose a tax on rentals.

Airbnb welcomes being regulated but is not endorsing all the terms of the proposal as is, said spokesman Christopher Nully."

Airbnb in the news:

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COVID-19, lapses in federal support delay L.A.'s landmark affordable housing initiative

Airbnb helps the homeless while getting involved with L.A.'s City Council