The Department of Veterans affairs must build more than 2,500 housing units on its West Los Angeles campus, a federal appeals court has ruled.
Last week, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a court order requiring the VA to construct 750 temporary units for veterans within 18 months and 1,800 permanent housing units within six years, LAist reported. The VA is accused of “stray[ing] from its mission” by leasing land to commercial tenants like the University of California, Los Angeles, for a baseball field and Brentwood School for a sports complex rather than using it for veterans.
“There are now scores of unhoused veterans trying to survive in and around the greater Los Angeles area despite the acres of land deeded to the VA for their care,” Judge Ana de Alba said in the Powers v. McDonough case opinion. There are more than 3,000 unhoused veterans in the Los Angeles region.