by Laura Garber
Hermosa Beach voted Tuesday night to join the South Bay Regional Housing Trust, becoming the tenth city to sign on to a regional effort to fund affordable housing across the South Bay.
The Hermosa Beach City Council voted 5-0 to join the trust. Councilmember Rob Saemann will serve as delegate and Councilmember Dean Francois as the alternate. Only four cities were needed to form the trust; ten have now signed on. Rolling Hills Estates is expected to consider joining at its April 14 council meeting.
Jacki Bacharach, executive director of the South Bay Cities Council of Governments, told Council that the housing trust concept actually originated with former Hermosa Beach Councilmember, Stacey Armato, who pursued enabling legislation in 2022.
“Here we are back again,” she said.
The trust is now a separate joint powers authority with its own board of directors. The South Bay Cities Council of Governments, a joint powers agency representing 16 cities and Los Angeles County, has been developing the trust for the past year using state planning funds.
The primary funding source is Measure A, a half-cent countywide sales tax approved by LA County voters in November 2024. The measure, which replaced a smaller, temporary tax set to expire in 2027, generates more than $1 billion annually and carries no sunset date. Roughly 36 percent of Measure A revenue flows to LACAHSA, the Los Angeles County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency. Through LACAHSA’s production, preservation and ownership program, the SBCCOG expects to receive approximately $13 million annually for the South Bay — about $7 million of which is designated for housing production and preservation work. LACAHSA also has agency matching funds that could potentially bring that figure to $14 million, though Bacharach said the trust would need to apply for those funds and compete for them.
“We have $7 million, so if it’s matching, they’ll match it with the $7 [million],” Bacharach said. “But we also have to apply for their projects and see how we fare with them.”
The trust is not limited to new construction. Bacharach said it could also be used to acquire existing affordable housing before investors drive up rents — pointing to the example of naturally occurring affordable housing in Gardena that was purchased by a Wall Street-backed investor and rented at market rate.
“We could go in there and try to control the rent, or buy a multifamily building and try and control it,” she said. The trust can also provide rental assistance, homebuyer assistance, and other direct services.
Nancy Shwappach, a Hermosa Beach resident, raised questions during public comment about how funds would be allocated when cities have competing projects. Bacharach said there is no fixed formula.
“These are all decisions that are going to be made by the trust,” she said. “We try to do things with geographic equity, but this is going to be a little different. It’s going to be developers who come in and spot land or a project or an opportunity to buy up something, and if the city comes to us and says they would like us to help — that might not happen in every city.”
Bacharach said the SBCCOG has already received two project inquiries — one in Hawthorne and one in Inglewood — where developers are working with cities on affordable housing that doesn’t quite pencil out financially. She said each might need around $250,000 in gap financing, though neither has formally come to the trust yet. No projects in Hermosa Beach have been identified yet, though Bacharach said developers may increasingly look to coastal cities as the trust makes more projects financially viable.
“Things might come to them because things will start penciling out more,” she said.
Under current state law, housing credits toward each city’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation — the state-mandated targets that determine how much housing each city must plan for — count only in the city where units are actually built. That means affordable units funded by the trust in Hawthorne or Inglewood would not reduce Hermosa Beach’s own obligations. Bacharach said the SBCCOG intends to push for state legislation that would allow regional trusts to share credit across member cities.
There is no immediate cost to member cities. First-year startup expenses — estimated at $500,000 — will be covered by existing Measure A administrative funds. Whether dues will be assessed in future years will be determined by the trust board. Cities can withdraw with 90 days’ notice before the start of a fiscal year at no cost.
The trust’s first meeting is scheduled for April 23 at the SBCCOG’s offices in Torrance. Bacharach described it as an organizational session covering bylaws and agency relationships. A second meeting in May is planned to walk board members through the trust’s program options. She said she hopes to have a work program in place by summer. The SBCCOG has also submitted a $1 million federal earmark request for the trust, though Bacharach cautioned it faces stiff competition and depends on Congress passing a budget. ER
