Redondo Beach City Council supports creation of South Bay housing trust

by Garth Meyer

In an effort to counter private equity firms buying single-family housing and raising rents, the Redondo Beach city council gave its support Tuesday night to the formation of a Housing Trust, through the South Bay Cities Council of Governments. 

City Councilmember Paige Kaluderovic made the motion, saying it is important to be involved early in the process to help shape the program. The city has not yet confirmed it will participate.

Jacki Bacharach, executive director of South Bay Cities Council of Governments (SBCCOG) spoke to the Redondo council Feb. 3. She is visiting South Bay cities to ask them to join the program. 

The Trust would buy houses/apartment buildings at market prices then subsidize lower rents. 

“This is reality, not just potential,” Bacharach said. 

She reported that two cities had already signed on, or were in the process; Inglewood and Lawndale. The official name would be “South Bay Regional Housing Trust” (SBRHT). The deadline to join is at the end of March.

To start the program, SBCCOG got a $570,000 grant in 2024 from the Southern California Association of Governments, part of a state coordination effort to accelerate progress on housing and climate goals. 

With this money, the SBCCOG did a feasibility study about creating an independent joint powers authority to aid affordable housing projects in member cities.

The Trust would be funded by $7.3 million each year from the L.A. County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency. Potential matching funds could push it to $14 million per year. 

The Redondo Beach city council is expected to take formal action in the next six weeks on whether to join the Trust. The city would not be required to pay anything to join, though administrative fees may be required in the future. 

The South Bay Cities Council of Governments encompasses 16 cities and Los Angeles County. Formed in 1995, it focuses on issues such as land use, transportation and homelessness. ER