Santa Monica, CA: The Santa Monica authorities gave the go-light to a multimillion-dollar homeless apartment complex, which comes days after an audit revealed that California spent $24 billion on the state’s growing homelessness problem without proper accounting.
Apartments for the homeless will range from studios to three-bedroom units in this 122-unit complex. The building will also have retail space on the ground floor and parking for both residents and businesses.
The city website features a design concept of the multi-apartment complex, which indicates that the total cost will exceed $123 million. This equates to somewhat more than $1 million each apartment for the 122 units. More than $200 million for 196 units was the price tag for an alternative design proposal.
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According to a city spokesperson, the state, like many other places, “is experiencing a housing and homelessness crisis, and all cities across the state are required to adopt a Housing Element that includes affordable housing.”
“Santa Monica has dedicated several city-owned sites for affordable projects, a key strategy to lower costs to develop this needed housing and meet the mandates in the council-approved Housing Element,” the spokesperson said. “The city is following this strategy with council recently approving the agreement to move forward with developments on three city-owned sites along Euclid Avenue.”
Approval of the measure occurred days after an audit revealed that the state had expended approximately $24 billion on homelessness initiatives from 2018 to 2023, without consistently monitoring the efficacy of these enormous public funds in addressing the issue as per FOX11.
The agency charged with coordinating agencies and allocating resources for homelessness programs, the California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH), attributed the issue to local governments and stated that they must be held more accountable.