The city had allocated $5,578,379 to spend on construction for the project, according to city documents.
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The City of Los Angeles, California spent over $5.5 million to construct a new tiny home village for the homeless in Van Nuys. The project was only able to produce 100 beds for those who would use them.
The tiny home village is the fourth site of its type in Council District 2 and was made in an effort to help with the huge homeless population in LA. The city had allocated $5,578,379 to spend on construction for the project, according to city documents.
The tiny home village, equipped with 100 beds, mean that each spot cost approximately $55,000 to build. Spencer Pratt pointed this out on X in a post and said, “They spent $5.5M of your tax dollars on this. For 100 beds. That’s $55K per bed. If you were to simply give somebody $55K, they could rent out a room in Van Nuys for 5 years. But then no contractor or NGO is getting their beak wet on the transaction. See the scam yet?”
The project, according to Los Angeles City Councilmember Adrin Nazarian, is supposed to be a temporary place of shelter before people move into permanent housing. “This is not a permanent solution. The goal of this is to serve as a bridge, so that they’re here temporarily. Temporary being anywhere from maybe six months to a year, year and a half, and then finding a permanent solution,” Nazarian said, per ABC 7.
The homes are opening up on June 29, and the village is expected to be full within a week, per the San Fernando Valley Sun. There is a waiting list to get in.
Each tiny home has two beds, heating and air conditioning, windows, and a front door that locks. The village will be managed by Hope the Mission. President of the nonprofit Rowan Vansleve said, “These beds in particular are incredibly important for women who are on the streets. So often when women are on the streets, they’re victims of the most insidious violence, and being able to come inside and have that locking door, gives them that security to say ‘I’m ready to come off the streets.”
Despite the construction of the site in Van Nuys, the promise to have 1,200 tiny homes for the homeless in the state that Gavin Newsom made in 2023. However, that has yet to come to full fruition. He said at the time that $30 million would be spent in total on the tiny homes. According to a Spectrum News investigation last month, only 544 tiny home beds have been made. It is not clear if the 100 beds in Van Nuys were included in the total.