Remember that L.A. hotel, The Mayfair, that Mayor Karen Bass purchased for tens of millions of dollars? It's key to her program to house L.A.'s homeless, but now we're learning it'll need hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional funding.
In addition to the $60 million to purchase the hotel and another $23 million for ongoing renovations to the badly damaged interior, $400,000 per year has been approved to cover the estimated cost to keep the outside of the property clean.
The new funding was quickly passed by the council because, as Councilmember Bob Blumenfield told KNX News' Craig Fiegener, "...having to clean up right outside makes sense to make sure that the community that lives, works, and plays in that area is not going to be unduly burdened by the intervention which is important for our entire community."
He believes that to avoid creating a nightmare scenario that some residents fear will result from allowing homeless housing near them, "You do everything you can to make sure that that fear is not realized, that you try to pre-empt by having good rules and regulations by having, you know, going out of your way to make sure the area is clean, and this, this is an effort to do that."
The Mayfair must open by the end of July, which is when the current contract with the Grand hotel ends. People living in the Grand hotel will transition to the Mayfair hotel.
In a statement to KNX News the Bass administration says:'The [294 room] Mayfair hotel opened its doors to clients beginning May 1 and more than 100 clients are currently living there. Clients will continue to moving in based on the planned schedule and phased approach.'
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