Faced with reports of smashed furniture, torn carpet and other types of damage, the City of Los Angeles recently paid $11.5 million to a boutique hotel that was used as housing for the homeless for two years.

That money will not go toward repairs to the building, even though the city is close to acquiring the property, officials said this week.

The City Council will vote Friday to approve the purchase of the 294-room Mayfair Hotel, which will be a key part of Mayor Karen Bass’ fight against homelessness. In the run-up to that vote, city officials explained that the seller, Mayfair Lofts,

LLC

will not be required to use any of the $11.5 million in city damage to repaint rooms, replace light fixtures, or repair other parts of the building.

That information was provided at a hearing on Wednesday, after Councilman Bob Blumenfield asked that the seller provide receipts proving he had made repairs to the Mayfair prior to the sale to the city.

“The $11 million in damages that had already been paid, they actually repaired, had to show receipts for actually repairing [the building]Blumenfield asked. “Or are we going to get a building that has $11 million in damage?”

Melody McCormick, assistant general manager of the General Services Department, responded by pointing out that the city agreed to certain terms when it rented the Mayfair for Project Roomkey, which provided rooms to displaced Angelenos during the pandemic. Under that agreement, the city was to restore the hotel to the condition it was in when Project Roomkey began at the hotel in July 2021, she said.

“We are buying the hotel as it is, that is… in damaged condition,” she told councillors.

The Times reported Wednesday that the city received extensive reports of damage to the Mayfair during Project Roomkey, with residents shattering windows, destroying bathrooms and, in one instance, punching a hole in a wall in the lobby. Project Roomkey employees also responded to overdoses, threatening behavior and violent acts, according to emails obtained by The Times.

The city plans to purchase the Mayfair for $60 million and undertake an additional $23 million in renovations and upgrades. Bass plans to use the building in the short term as temporary housing for homeless Skid Row residents, some of whom currently reside at the LA Grand Hotel. The city rents that building for nearly $4,700 per room per month.

The mayor’s proposal for the Mayfair has received strong support from nonprofits, particularly those working in Skid Row, which has the highest concentration of homeless people in the city. The plan is opposed by a number of people who live or work near the Mayfair, who say the city’s poor oversight of the facility when it was used as housing for the homeless during the pandemic.

According to city manager Kenneth Mejia, the city has made three payments in the past four months to handle damage claims on the Mayfair. The final payment of $6 million was paid on Aug. 9, the controller’s office said.

Nearly a third of the city’s payout is payments for furniture, including $310,000 in ottomans, $239,000 in nightstands and more than $940,000 in beds and mattresses, city officials said.

While some damage to the Mayfair was confined to individual hotel rooms, other issues affected much of the building.

For example, in January 2022, a hotel manager informed Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority officials that a seventh-floor resident had flooded a toilet without telling anyone. Water reached the lobby causing a “major flood,” he wrote.

“Considering it traveled seven floors to the lobby, it could be costly,” McCormick replied in an email.

At this week’s hearings, McCormick told councilors the charges at the Mayfair were “an anomaly”. Other Project Roomkey sites generated much smaller claims, she said.

Unlike other Project Roomkey hotels, the Mayfair had high-end furnishings and other expensive furnishings appropriate for a newly renovated boutique hotel, McCormick said. Once the city gets possession of the hotel, it won’t have to purchase furniture anywhere close to luxury, she said.

“We’re not going to replace the $450 ottoman with another $450 ottoman,” she said.

Councilor Eunisses Hernandez, who represents the neighborhood where the Mayfair sits, spoke out in favor of purchasing the hotel. But she also called for several measures to help the surrounding neighborhood, including an additional $400,000 in sanitation.

Hernandez said she will

for

the mayor’s team to conduct an Inside Safe encampment operation to purchase the Mayfair within 30 days of the vote. She also called for the creation of a community advisory board to oversee Mayfair’s activities.

Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez opposed the hotel takeover, saying the city’s fight against homelessness should not come at the expense of “prudent financial decisions.” “To propose a hasty purchase of a property that we paid $11 million in damages to fix, and take possession of it without the repairs completed, I don’t think is a deal any taxpayer should be willing to accept. would love to pass it up,” she said.