The project is expected to house 78 homeless residents and open in early 2025.
Long Beach began construction on a 78-unit interim housing project on the former Luxury Inn in North Long Beach on Tuesday. The project will transform the former Luxury Inn into housing units for people experiencing homelessness in the city as part of Project Homekey.
California’s Project Homekey Program helps cities to create housing for people experiencing homelessness by purchasing and rehabilitating existing properties such as hotels, motels, vacant apartment buildings and more.
The Luxury Inn is expected to cost $6.5 million in renovations and is projected to open in early 2025.
“Today marks a significant stride forward in our efforts to expand interim housing options within our community,” said Mayor Rex Richardson in a public statement. “This initiative will provide a stable and supportive space for individuals as they pursue pathways to secure permanent housing.”
The City purchased the Luxury Inn for $16.5 million in September 2022, and was previously expected to open in October 2023. Long Beach agreed to a 15-year covenant to keep the Luxury Inn, but state funding will only cover the first two years of costs.
The 78 units of interim housing will be located at 5950 Long Beach Blvd. and include 12 ADA-accessible units, common areas and support facilities. All rooms will include new bathrooms, lighting and upgraded amenities such as laundry and kitchen appliances.
“I am pleased to see the transformation of this prior nuisance motel into a space that will support so many people on their journey to housing,” said Eighth District Councilmember Al Austin II in a statement from the City. A nuisance property is a property that receives a high amount of calls to the police due to crime-related occurrences and is considered a blight to the neighborhood.
The Luxury Inn was the fourth nuisance property purchased by the city to provide temporary housing. A Motel 6 in East Long Beach with 43 rooms and a Best Western in downtown with 102 units, were both purchased with grants from the state. The City has only purchased one hotel without state funding—a Holiday Inn in Central Long Beach.
Renovations for the Luxury Inn began in February, focusing on restoring the electrical and plumbing capabilities. The project is supported by the State’s Project Homekey grants and Measure A funds.
For more information on Long Beach’s efforts to reduce homelessness, residents can visit longbeach.gov/homelessness and follow @lbhealthdept and @longbeachcity on social media and follow the hashtag #EveryoneHomeLB.
Someone please correct my assumptions and math.
If the 15 year covenant expires in September of 2037, but the housing won’t be complete until early 2025, there will be 12 years of utility of the project as housing. Assuming of course that the city can find another source of operating funds since the state has only committed for the first two years.
If those funds, $23,000,000 (purchase + renovation) were used to rent 78 one-bedroom apartments at $2,000/month each, for 12 years, the cost would be slightly less than $23,000,000.
It’s a wash, right?
No. The motel rooms are basically a tiny studio without a full kitchen, whereas the apartments come with a real kitchen and a separate bedroom.
Something isn’t adding up.