LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The city of Los Angeles will be stepping in to save nearly 2,000 units of permanent, supportive housing owned by the Skid Row Housing Trust, which recently announced it is unable to continue operating its 29 buildings, city officials announced Thursday.
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In a press conference at City Hall, Mayor Karen Bass and City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto said the city filed a petition Thursday morning seeking the establishment of a Public Health and Safety Receivership for the Skid Row Housing Trust, and nominated Mark Adams, president of the California Receivership Group, to be appointed as receiver.
"We approached this crisis from the stance that failure is not an option. Losing nearly 2,000 units of housing would be devastating to Skid Row, would be felt citywide, and undoubtedly, people would have lost their lives," Bass said.
According to Feldstein Soto, a receivership is a legal process that allows a court-appointed person, a receiver, to take control of a property, address the issues, bring it into compliance and improve the quality of life for residents and the surrounding community. As receiver, Adams would work with the city to ensure these buildings are rehabilitated and maintained, so that units are not left vacant.
"This action is just one example of the unprecedented level of collaboration among our elected officials coming together under Mayor Bass' leadership. We are seeking this Public Health and Safety Receivership not only to protect and keep housed the 1,500 people who live in these buildings now, but to enable hundreds more to move off the streets," Feldstein Soto said.
Feldstein Soto said by putting these buildings under a receivership -- the renovations, collecting rent, public safety -- the city will be able to achieve the kinds of services the most vulnerable residents need. The 29 buildings are under the city's Coordinated Entry System, which connects Angelenos to housing and services.
"Everybody involved in this process had the first and foremost commitment to preserving the affordable housing and the regulatory agreements that ensure that we have 2,000 units of housing available, and continue to be available to shelter our population," Feldstein Soto said.
City officials hope to be in court to finalize the establishment of the receivership and formally appoint Adams to the job, who is currently the founder and president of the California Receivership Group.
"This is a massive undertaking, and if this works, ladies and gentlemen, we may have found a solution to replenish and rehabilitate our housing stock for years to come," Feldstein Soto said.
Of the 29 buildings, some buildings may need very little rehabilitation and some of them are under letters of transfer to financially responsible parties. There are nine buildings under fire orders, which indicate those buildings are in dangerous conditions and need immediate attention, city officials said.
"Our receiver is going to take care of the things that are a threat to life and to live before he takes care of the threat to property, and then we will help plan going forward for which buildings need to stay in the receivership, monitor and see what it's going to cost to get them out," Feldstein Soto said.
Mercedes Marquez, chief of housing and homelessness solutions under Bass' administration, explained the receiver draws upon his own lines of credit to advance the funding that is required to rehabilitate these buildings. The city would not be paying anything out of pocket, however, at the end of the day, there might be a role for the city to play in providing permanent financing, she added.
"I worry about another spike in homelessness because of the eviction moratorium and the COVID supports going away, and to me, this is an example of how we can get to scale 29 buildings," Bass said. "We need to look for opportunities like this around the city where we could make big purchases -- obviously, I don't want to look for buildings that are in total disrepair, but what I'm saying is that it's an example of how we need to get to scale massive buildings."
The city has asked Adams, as receiver, to look at ways of consolidation of tenants in some of the better buildings to enable the rehabilitation efforts to focus on the buildings that are greatest disrepair.
"Relocation is always that takes an awful lot of outreach, and people have to feel comfortable going to a place that is going to be comfortable for them as well," Feldstein Soto said. "Most of these buildings don't have security. They don't have an onsite property manager. They don't have the services that many of the tenant need."
City officials said they contacted Los Angeles County in hopes they would partner with them to provide mental health services and delivery services for the things residents are going to need. Feldstein Soto said the city expects the work to move forward in the next few months.
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