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| Villaraigosa unveils cornerstone of “Housing that Works” for all Angelenos |
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LOS ANGELES - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Monday, September 29, unveiled “Housing That Works,” a five-year, $5 billion plan to build 20,000 affordable housing units and make Los Angeles a more affordable place of middle class families to live and work. “This city’s economic success and vitality depend on our ability to plan for a future of sustainability in our housing market,” Mayor Villaraigosa said. “This plan lays the building blocks of housing our middle class can afford and takes the first steps toward building ‘housing that works’ for all Angelenos.”"Housing That Works" represents the first time that all housing and planning departments are coming together in a coordinated effort, with one strategy to invest in affordable housing. This coordinated effort will bring a new level of transparency and stability to the City’s housing investment strategy, which will allow it to leverage $1 billion in public funds into a $5 billion investment in affordable housing throughout local neighborhoods.
The Mayor’s Office will coordinate resources from different departments and develop public/private partnerships to reach the $5 billion goal. The $700 million investment from Enterprise Community Partners announced on Monday, September 29, is a testament to this new strategy.
"Mayor Villaraigosa has presented a far-sighted vision addressing the need for affordable housing in the City of Los Angeles. Enterprise is pleased to step forward as an early and major partner in this effort to create fit, affordable and sustainable homes for all residents of the City," said Doris Koo, president and CEO of Enterprise Community Partners.
"Our pledge of $700 million reflects our commitment to focus Enterprise’s energy and resources into making the City of Los Angeles a vibrant and thriving community," Koo continued.
Using the funding from this capital campaign, Villaraigosa’s plan pledges to build and preserve 20,000 affordable homes in areas that make the most sense – double the number of units constructed since the beginning of the Mayor’s time in office. This includes implementing a mixed-income housing ordinance that requires the City’s largest developers to offer units at prices LA’s workforce can afford.
I addition, this initiative will create 20 sustainable transit communities focusing new developments in the areas where it makes the most sense – along public transit corridors and close to job centers.
Another key component of the project involves shifting the City’s strategy from managing homelessness to moving people out of it. The plan funds 2,200 permanent supportive housing units—where homeless men and women are connected to social services—and expands Section 8 voucher programs for the chronically homeless. It also puts the pieces in place to complete the redevelopment of Jordan Downs and transform L.A.’s public housing sites into vibrant, mixed-income communities.
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