In an effort to move people living along the Los Angeles River into housing, the city has agreed to rent out the 60-bed Colonial Motel through the next year.<\/p>\n
The $1.7 agreement<\/a> will pay for rooms to house 60 people at a time, as well as use the parking lot. Health officials say 13 people have already moved into the motel as of Wednesday, with another 20 expected to make their stay by the end of the week. They plan to have all rooms filled by the end of the month.<\/p>\n Once housed there, people will be moved into permanent housing on a rolling basis, with the city\u2019s goal being to move at least 80% of them into a home in a year\u2019s time. Those staying there will take part in coordinated drug programs, job training and other services intended to lead to independent living. The approach acknowledges that putting a roof over someone\u2019s head is only the beginning.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a similar plan to the one the city made last year at the Vagabond Inn<\/a>, meant to focus on homeless people living around Lincoln Park and the Billie Jean King Main Library. During the program\u2019s duration, 94 people moved into the Vagabond Inn, and 26 were eventually placed in permanent housing, according to city data.<\/p>\n The lease is the latest move since the city last year announced a two-year, $17.4 million plan<\/a> \u2014 $11 million coming from a state grant \u2014 to begin housing the roughly 250 people living along the 9.5-mile segment of the L.A. River in city limits.<\/p>\n Officials say the contract follows a nearly yearlong search that began last summer and was poised to move forward with an 18-month lease to rent the 50-room Motel 6<\/a> on E. Pacific Coast Highway. But the city said it scrapped this plan over \u201ccommunity concerns about losing a local asset.\u201d This plan is also cheaper; rooms at Colonial Motel will cost $85 per room, per day, while the Motel 6 was expected to cost $131 to $177 per night, or about $4.8 million through the program\u2019s duration.<\/p>\n The Colonial has been used by the county Pathway Home Program since 2024, which offers the same service through a county program, moving the homeless into temporary housing.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause the Colonial Motel was already in use for a similar program, the City can provide placements and services quickly,\u201d a city health spokesperson said. The Colonial, though, also has its baggage, having been criticized for unsafe, vermin-ridden conditions<\/a> when the city placed unhoused people there as part of a pandemic-era voucher program.<\/p>\n Long Beach Homeless Services director Paul Duncan said there are only \u201ca handful\u201d of hotels and motels within city limits that have 50 to 60 rooms, which added to the delay in starting the LA River encampment resolution program.<\/p>\n Travel Lodge Inn, Vagabond Inn, Motel 6, The Colonial Inn and The Cove were all considered in the search.<\/p>\n