Motel 6 Becomes a Money Pit

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Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass cut the ribbon on a converted motel that will house 111 homeless residents at a total cost of roughly $650,000 per unit.

Story Snapshot

The Motel 6 North Hills project turned 114 old motel rooms into 111 interim housing units.
Total project cost reached about $72 million, with $32,068,000 coming from California’s Homekey program.
The city will spend another $2,558,661 just on operating costs through June 2027.
The site sat fenced and empty for years after funding was announced in 2023, drawing neighbor complaints.
Operator Hope the Mission will provide meals, case management, and help finding permanent housing.

A Motel Becomes Housing in the San Fernando Valley

The building sits at 15711 West Roscoe Boulevard in Council District 12. City officials say the project converts 114 old motel rooms into 111 interim housing units for people experiencing homelessness. Workers added wheelchair-accessible upgrades and turned the manager’s suite and three rooms into offices for support staff and property management, according to state environmental filings.

Los Angeles Housing Department General Manager Ann Sewill called the project “a bridge for unhoused Angelenos to find permanent housing” when the city first announced it in 2023. The California Department of Housing and Community Development awarded $32,068,000 through its Homekey program to help the city and nonprofit partner Hope the Mission buy and renovate the property.

The Math Behind the $650,000 Price Tag

Reporting on the ribbon-cutting put the total project cost near $72 million, which works out to almost $650,000 for each of the 111 units. That figure covers more than just construction. City budget records show an additional $2,558,661 set aside just to run the building through June 30, 2027, on top of the acquisition and rehab money already spent.

The per-unit cost climbed well above earlier homeless housing projects in Los Angeles. One prior motel conversion in the city’s Homekey pipeline cost about $350,000 per unit, while a separate supportive housing complex built under Proposition HHH ran $549,000 per unit. Researchers have pointed to union labor requirements and other mandates as a factor pushing costs higher on many city-funded housing projects.

Services Promised Alongside Shelter

Hope the Mission will run daily operations at the site. The nonprofit is expected to provide three meals a day, case management, and housing navigation services meant to move residents toward stable, permanent housing. Public filings describe the facility as more than overnight shelter, with staff dedicated to helping residents find jobs, benefits, and long-term housing options.

Years of Delay Before Opening

The city first announced funding for the project in September 2023. By 2024, the site remained fenced off and unfinished, and neighbors complained about encampments and drug activity near the vacant property. Hope the Mission’s president pointed to funding and escrow timelines, while another city official cited a lengthy vetting process for the delay. City records now list October 15, 2026 as the expected date operations finally began.

Part of a Much Larger Statewide Program

California’s Homekey program has spent more than $3.8 billion converting motels and hotels into homeless housing since 2020. Los Angeles used the program’s first round to acquire 20 motel properties and open more than 1,600 interim housing units within six months, a pace city officials called unprecedented at the time. The North Hills project follows that same basic model: buy an existing building instead of constructing new housing from scratch.

That speed has long been the main argument for motel conversions over new construction. But the North Hills project also shows how costs and timelines can stretch far beyond initial estimates, even when using an existing building rather than building from the ground up. The gap between the $32 million in state funding and the roughly $72 million total cost has not been publicly reconciled in available city or state records.

What Happens Next

No outcome data has been released yet showing how many residents move from the North Hills site into permanent housing, or how long people typically stay. The project’s stated goal is to serve as a temporary bridge, not a final destination, for unhoused residents in the San Fernando Valley. Whether it meets that goal will depend on results that have not yet been measured or made public.

🚨Karen Bass Cuts Ribbon on $72 Million Motel Makeover That Costs Taxpayers Nearly $650,000 Per Homeless Unit

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass cut the ribbon Thursday on a 111-unit homeless housing project created from a converted Motel 6 on Roscoe Boulevard in North Hills, near the… pic.twitter.com/hLa7cFDxC7

— Trump Girl (@TrumpGirlLove) November 13, 2026

For now, the ribbon-cutting marks the formal start of operations at a site that took three years and roughly double its original state funding to open. Taxpayers, neighbors, and future residents will be watching to see whether the investment translates into the stable housing outcomes city officials promised when the project was first announced.