Los Angeles, CA - March 3, 2022 - The A-Mark Foundation released a new report on the costs to build and operate “tiny home” villages for people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles. The report is available for free at https://amarkfoundation.org/tiny-home-villages.
In 2021, the Los Angeles built eight villages using 64-square-foot Pallet shelters (often called “tiny homes”) and began construction on a ninth village expected to open in March 2022. The cost of building the tiny home villages ranged from about $3,000,000 (Echo Park village, with 74 beds at $40,541 per bed) to $9,007,000 (Whitsett West village, with 150 beds at $60,047 per bed). The biggest village, Arroyo Seco, cost $7,327,376 (224 beds at $32,712 per bed).
The A-Mark Foundation calculated an average cost per bed of $42,344 for LA tiny home villages, although costs for each project vary. The nonprofit service providers that run the villages are reimbursed $55 per bed per night by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, an agency with joint powers authority between the City and County of Los Angeles.
As a rough comparison, the average construction cost of permanent housing units for people experiencing homelessness in LA was $596,846 in 2021. A fenced-in campground for tents with support services for its residents cost $31,959 per tent annually.
The A-Mark Foundation used interviews, emails, phone calls, and public records requests to obtain the official construction estimates for each of the nine villages as well as the ongoing operational costs.
“We initially thought it would be a simple matter to look up the costs to build and run tiny home villages given that local government was involved, but quickly realized the information was not readily accessible,” said Steven C. Markoff, founder and CEO of The A-Mark Foundation. “That motivated us to track down the numbers and compile them in a report that anyone can access to see what the reported costs are per bed.”
The report will continue to be updated with new information and costs as more details become available.
The A-Mark Foundation is a Los Angeles-based 501(c)(3) private operating foundation that has researched, funded, and disseminated factual reports to advance education, discussion, and debate since 1997. A full roster of the Foundation’s research may be found at amarkfoundation.org.
