Venice’s A Bridge Home, which since February 2020 has offered unhoused residents interim housing and case management, is closing as of December 31, 2024. Although the groundbreaking for permanent housing on the Metro-owned former bus yard at Sunset and Main is still two years away, the City of Los Angeles has declined to renew its lease and keep Venice’s only shelter in operation. Intakes have been shut down since July 1, 2024.

PATH (People Assisting the Homeless), the non-profit operator of A Bridge Home, says that in “four years of operations, Venice A Bridge Home site has served more than 772 individuals and connected 211 to permanent housing opportunities (this includes both PATH and SPY participants).” Final figures as well as the number of residents still inhabiting A Bridge Home are unavailable.

Housing and human rights activists had been told that “affordable” housing (rents not to exceed 30% of moderate and low monthly household income) would replace the interim shelter. Apparently, CD11 priorities have changed in the last couple of years.

The Metro’s Joint Development Program (MJDP) has now chosen a developer: MVAC (Metro Venice Art Collective) whose plan is to build 341 rental units (lofts, town homes, and apartments), 75% of which will be at market value. (The structure will also include 30,000 sq ft of commercial space.) At the March 18, 2024 “Venice Division 6 Community Meeting and Project Update” meeting at which two finalist developers presented proposals, MVAC defined its 86 “affordable” units as serving households making 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI).

The AMI for Venice is $124, 232 (according to the 2022 census and online realtor point2homes.com). 80% AMI means that “affordable” rent will be calculated on the basis of $99,200 annual or $8266 monthly gross income. 30% of $8266 is $2783 monthly rent. Even an established teacher or police officer might need a working partner to be able to afford that, since according to salary.com, the average teacher’s salary in Los Angeles is $65, 580. A service worker in a hotel, shop, or restaurant would not find such a apartment affordable at all (according to salary.com, the average hotel worker’s salary is $31, 126).

While the proposal that was not chosen by Metro would have built slightly fewer “affordable” units (75, same 25% of the whole), their definition of “affordable” was closer to that of MJDP Project Manager Carey Jenkins, that is, households making 60-30% of AMI (see zoom video 1:53-1:59 for discussion of what affordable means to Metro and the developers,

We don’t know exactly why Metro chose MVAC’s proposal over the other one. But as the Westside Current has reported, “Rather than using government subsidies, MVAC’s plan is funded by the AFL-CIO’s Housing Trust, which gives the developer more flexibility in determining the nature of the project’s income-restricted housing component.” (Angela McGregor Westside Current Jun 21, 2024).

Many believe that 25% “affordable” units at 80% of AMI is not acceptable for a public private partnership and that the affordable housing on this site should emphasize or at least include units in the 60%-30% of AMI affordability range. Fortunately, there is still time to push for changes since Project Manager Casey Jenkins has requested community input over the next 12-18 months while the project is still being developed. CD11 housing rights activists can contact him at Jenkinsca@metro.net

– Katherine C. King