We're not surprised that LA is paying top dollar for building tiny homes at $130,000+ a unit. For context on LA's overspending on supportive housing, through Prop HHH, the City is building supportive housing at $555,000+ a unit using private & non-profit developers.

(thread) https://twitter.com/KTLA/status/1337803630179577857

LA’s tiny homes project will cost $5.2 million to build 39 supportive housing units. This includes:

$1.5 million to prepare the site
$122,000 for underground utilities
$253,000 for concrete pads
$312,000 for an admin office and staff restroom

$1.1 million for fire alarms
$280,000 for permits/fees
$651,000 to connect the street sewer line
$546,000 in design, project management and inspection costs

Other municipalities like Tacoma used the same company (Pallet) to build tiny homes at far less at $12,000 a unit.

The problem:

LA spends 5-10x more than other cities on housing our unhoused neighbors. According to Rick Cole (Mayor Garcetti's former deputy mayor), LA tends to focus housing solutions on “nice to haves” vs. “need to haves," building housing the way the "Pentagon would do it."

LA could provide more housing at a fraction of the cost if we wanted to. However, City officials, like Garcetti and City Attorney Mike Feuer, rationalize the expensive costs due to “safety reasons” while ignoring the fact that other cities are doing it at a fraction of our costs.

We will audit supportive housing projects and break down why these projects cost so much when other cities do it for far less.

At the end of the day - some private company, non-profit, or government agency is making money off of LA’s expensive inefficient housing development.