LA fast tracks more than 9,000 affordable housing units in 2023

California Construction News staff writer

As a year focused on confronting the homelessness crisis comes to an end Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass says there is significantly more work to do to address Los Angeles’ biggest challenges.

At the end of 2023, more than 9,000 units of affordable housing are being accelerated as a result of an executive directive to streamline development by removing bureaucratic barriers to “build more housing faster.”

Ahead of her first anniversary as mayor on Dec. 12, Bass visited West Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley, East Los Angeles, Mid-City, South Los Angeles, San Pedro and Downtown, to highlight accomplishments including:

• The number of applications to the department of city planning with affordable housing units has also increased by 85% over 2022, from 6,500 to 12,000 units overall – both ED1 and non-ED1 units.
• 119 affordable housing projects have qualified for ED1 with the department of city planning and 59 project cases have received entitlements (60 are currently under review). In 2024, 27  city-financed Supportive Housing projects with 1,916 units are expected to open.
• Some new housing projects remain incomplete because of increasing costs and the housing department created the Fast Track Solutions Program with $20 million to fill gaps for eight projects with 670 units. The projects would otherwise not have been able to continue construction or close on their financing and would have had “immeasurable delays” without the gap funding provided by Fast Track solutions.
• 32 Proposition HHH-funded supportive housing projects with 2,076 units had approvals accelerated and were able to complete construction and start occupancy in 2023.

Watch the video recapping progress on homelessness and housing here.

“Since the first day when I declared a state of emergency, we have confronted the homelessness crisis with absolute urgency,” she said. “As we’ve worked to house Angelenos, we’ve uncovered barriers and then we address them. We will continue our new work, as a unified city, locking arms with our partners to bring as many Angelenos inside as possible and connect them to services and support.

“Though we are proud of our progress there is still more work to be done. It’s a new day in Los Angeles and our momentum will not stop.”