Los Angeles is facing fresh scrutiny over its homeless housing spending after a $20 million conversion of a former Ramada Inn left 32 units sitting empty for four years at $625,000 per unit — while the people originally housed there remain unaccounted for. The debacle has prompted city officials to admit the process was broken, even as the cost-per-unit reflects a statewide norm that Stanford researchers say makes the math nearly impossible to fix. Meanwhile, LA mayoral candidate Nithya Raman is pushing a platform that combines rent freezes with pro-construction policy — a combination that housing developers and economists argue is self-defeating, since rent caps eliminate the financial returns that make new construction viable.
Los Angeles emptied a building that was already housing people. Four years and $625,000 per unit later, it still houses nobody.
NYC and LA progressives promise rent freezes plus new construction. Every city that's tried gets ghost apartments instead.