A new homeless housing project is in the works along one of the most iconic streets in Southern California. The City of West Hollywood is working to convert an old motel into homeless housing on Santa Monica Boulevard.
Renovations will begin next month, converting the old motel into 20 rooms of interim housing. The unhoused can stay between 30 and 90 days as they work to find a permanent home.
“This is just the pathway, so we can continue to be helping all of our local and fellow community members experiencing homelessness get on to that next path in their life,” West Hollywood Mayor John Erickson said.
The project is possible with the help of city funds and state dollars through Project Roomkey. The county has also been helping with the effort.
Get top local stories in Southern California delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC LA's News Headlines newsletter.
“We all see it. We all talk about it. But let’s be a part of the solution together,” Erickson said. “We have to do all that we can to help people experiencing homelessness, and this is one of our tools in our toolbelt that we will be using to ensure that we are doing this.”
The motel will be run by the non-profit Ascenia, which will staff the site 24/7 while providing supportive programs and help the unhoused search for permanent homes.
People across the city have mixed feelings about the plans.
“I would prefer that this doesn’t come to this neighborhood,” Judy Arpadi said. “I understand it’s already an issue with the homeless people. I don’t like walking around here after dark, and I think that would just exacerbate the issue.”
“I think it’s great on one hand, but on the other, I don’t think it’s going to solve anything,” Agnew Wilson said. “Everybody’s happy to see homeless interim housing put in, but it’s like a small, little, tiny bucket for the thousands of people that are homeless out on the street.”
But there are many people, including Jack Ritter, who support the project.
“We need to be doing more of this sort of thing,” Jack Ritter said. “I think probably the only way to maybe not solve it, but maybe help it is to do things like this and converting unused buildings into spaces for homeless people to live in.”
The city hopes to have people moving into the old motel by the end of the year.
