Long Beach has reached a deal to lease the 60-room Vagabond Inn in Downtown for unhoused individuals who need interim shelter.
The City Council will be asked to ratify the agreement on Tuesday, which includes spending $2.4 million in state grant funds for the next year to lease the entire three-story facility at Alamitos Avenue and Second Street.
The city will pay $110 per room, per day to lease the facility, which includes all utilities, parking, cleaning and amenities.
The city will also spend $1.2 million of the state grant to help the residents find permanent housing placements.
“Our goal is to get as many people as possible connected and into permanent housing, as quickly as possible,” said Paul Duncan, director of the city’s Homeless Services Bureau.
Duncan, however, said given the difficulty of the housing market, “The reality is we’ll probably have people staying (at the Vagabond) for close to a year.”
In the first four months of this year, the city placed nearly 1,100 people in interim housing, but less than 300 found permanent housing, according to city data. Last year it took an average of 211 days for unhoused individuals to find a permanent home.
Support watchdog journalism
Who has eyes on City Hall? We do. The Long Beach Post is now a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Donate now to support independent accountability journalism that cuts through the political spin.
The city has housed people in local motels for years, but typically only for a few days until they can be moved elsewhere. With added funding during the pandemic, the city housed people in motels for much longer stays.
In some of the hotels, including the Coast and Colonial motels, residents complained of bugs and unsanitary conditions, along with safety concerns that drew a high number of police calls.
Duncan said the city no longer contracts with the Colonial; Los Angeles County has since taken over that lease to house people from Signal Hill and Long Beach.
The city still uses the Coast, the Pine Ave Inn and the Stallion Inn Motel in North Long Beach, where roughly 30 individuals are now housed using motel vouchers, he said.
Space at other interim shelters is very impacted. Data shows the city’s largest shelter, the 125-bed Atlantic Farms Bridge in North Long Beach, has at times exceeded full capacity.
The opening of another facility, the 78-room Luxury Inn in North Long Beach that is being converted to interim housing, has been delayed to early next year. Construction on a 12-bed Youth Navigation Center at 1718 Hayes Ave. began earlier this year, and the design phase has begun for a new 85-bed shelter at 702 W. Anaheim, which the city purchased from the Long Beach Rescue Mission last year.
Plans for a 33-home “tiny home village,” however, are on hold, said Duncan, adding that he expects to have an update on this project in the next few weeks.
The lease at the Vagabond could be extended beyond a year, but for now, the agreement will run from June 1 to May 31, 2025.