Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has announced plans to place another $100 million into the city’s housing trust fund to boost the stock of affordable housing.
Calling the city’s housing shortage a crisis that threatens to derail the city’s economic future, Villaraigosa told a conference of housing industry officials and advocates that he would fully fund the city’s housing trust account for the second straight year.
Over the next year, $50 million will be awarded through bid processes to developers in the form of partial subsidies for a broad range of affordable housing projects, while the other $50 million will go to programs to support the city’s homeless population.
In his speech at the University of California Los Angeles, Villaraigosa also called upon business and civic leaders to rally to pass a $1 billion affordable housing bond on the November ballot.
Villaraigosa also announced the formation of a housing coordinating team to better coordinate the city’s housing policy and of a separate initiative to boost construction of green buildings in the city.