Dive Brief:
- Casey Wasserman, chairman of LA24, the Los Angeles exploratory committee charged with bringing the 2024 Summer Olympics to the city, said Los Angeles' Olympic Village could be converted to residential units post-Olympics, helping to ease the affordable housing crisis in the city, ABC7 reported.
- "The Olympic Village is a significant legacy opportunity for our city after the games," Wasserman said. "The village would have 17,000 beds for the athletes, coaches and staff, which would then be converted into 5,000 units of both affordable and market rate housing."
- Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has set a goal of building more than 100,000 affordable housing units in the city by 2021 and said the city will reach that goal with or without the Olympics. Garcetti recently announced plans for a developer fee to help fund affordable housing.
Dive Insight:
Wasserman’s suggestion of turning the Olympic Village into housing isn't unprecedented. London’s 2012 Olympic Village is now part of a neighborhood known as East Village, and, so far, market-rate, below-market and low-income housing are filling that space. In addition, Atlanta turned its Olympic Village into student housing for two universities after the 1996 Games.
Los Angeles has been in the throes of a housing crisis. Plenty of luxury and market-rate units are being construction, but affordable housing has been left mostly out of the mix. Unfortunately, wages have not kept up with housing costs, so increasing the city's inventory of affordable housing is considered critical.
Commercial building for the possible 2024 Olympics could also be impacted by the Games, as Los Angeles is trying to fast-track area mass transportation projects and plans an $800 million renovation of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in preparation for its $4.1 billion Olympic bid.
