Real estate group Hudson Pacific Properties Thursday announced it is pledging $20 million to increase affordable housing and help people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles and other West Coast cities over the next five years.
The pledge includes investing $3 million in the L.A.-based SDS Capital Group Supportive Housing Fund which helps build permanent, supportive housing in L.A. and the San Francisco Bay Area.
SDS Capital Group announced Wednesday that its fund raised $106 million in private-sector capital to build $1,800 permanent supportive housing units for people in California. SDS plans to partner with RMG Housing, an affordable housing developer, to complete its developments three times as fast and at less than half the average per-unit cost of other permanent sustainable housing in California, Hudson Pacific Properties reported.
“The status quo approach to building housing for our most vulnerable populations must change,” said Natalie Teear, vice president of sustainability and social impact at Hudson Pacific.
“In Los Angeles, for example, it costs over $500,000 to build one unit of permanent supportive housing. In the Bay Area that number exceeds $700,000. Our goal with this new impact investing platform is to support new, innovative approaches with the potential to unlock big changes in the ways we currently deal with homelessness and housing affordability challenges.”
Hudson Pacific, which previously donated on a smaller scale to Los Angeles homeless services organizations, noted that more than half of the U.S.’ unsheltered population is in California, while the cost of a house in California is more than twice the price nationally. Other cities along the Pacific coastline, such as Seattle and Vancouver, are facing similar challenges.
Details of Hudson Pacific’s pledge to increase affordable housing and support people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Seattle and Vancouver can be found at: hudsonpacificproperties.com/responsibility.
“Our commitment to solving the homelessness crisis is the cornerstone of Hudson Pacific’s community outreach, and it’s absolutely essential that as a company we are part of the solution across our markets,” said Victor Coleman, Chairman and CEO of Hudson Pacific.
“We own and operate properties in some of the world’s most vibrant cities, which, even more so now in light of the pandemic, lack sufficient affordable housing and homelessness resources. Hudson Pacific is making this $20 million pledge because we believe we have a moral responsibility and a business imperative to collaborate and cultivate innovative approaches that holistically address this crisis.”