The public agency at the center of Los Angeles’ deepening homelessness emergency is operating out of a luxury downtown office tower where select tenants can access chauffeur-driven Maybach service and even book a helicopter ride to LAX, the California Post has learned.
The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, better known as LAHSA, is based on the 10th floor of AON Tower at 707 Wilshire Boulevard, a 62-story Class A high-rise with roughly 1.3 million square feet of office space. The building markets itself as offering workers an “unexpected level of hospitality that is far from the status quo.”
Among the amenities available in the building is the “707 Fitness Vault,” a gym built inside a former bank vault that features an infrared sauna, cold plunge, rock climbing wall and complimentary group fitness classes.
The tower also advertises high-end transportation perks for tenants, including Mercedes-Maybach and Cadillac Escalade vehicles with on-site drivers, along with a helipad offering “discounted” five-minute flights to LAX. Its parking facilities include valet service, a car wash and electric vehicle charging stations.
Several people who work in the building told the California Post they found it “odd” that a taxpayer-funded homelessness agency would be housed in such an upscale setting.
LAHSA’s budget has been cut by 40%, falling from $829 million to $496 million for 2026-27, as the agency continues to coordinate the City and County of Los Angeles’ response to homelessness, including oversight of shelters and housing programs.
Approximately 73% of LAHSA’s funding comes from the City of Los Angeles, while the remainder is supplied through county, state and federal taxpayer dollars.
To determine how much public money is being spent on LAHSA’s office space inside AON Tower, the Post filed a Public Records Act request on July 27.
When the request timed out on Thursday, LAHSA requested a 14-day extension, claiming it ”continues its search for, and review of, records.”
Details requested include its lease and operating expenses, such as parking costs, fit out and furniture costs, and the told square feet.
Revelations about the luxe office space comes as LAHSA comes under mounting criticism over its handling of public money.
In June, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development suspended LAHSA from federal grant activity while its inspector general investigates allegations of false statements, financial-management failures and inadequate conflict-of-interest safeguards.
Nearly $1 billion in federal money flowed to the Los Angeles Continuum of Care over the previous five years.
LAHSA has pushed back, saying it has corrected or is fixing many of the problems and warning that disrupting federal funding could jeopardize housing assistance for thousands of Angelenos.
The pressure is also mounting closer to home.
Los Angeles County is dramatically shrinking LAHSA’s role as it builds its own homelessness department, while Mayor Karen Bass has acknowledged “grave concerns” about the agency and previously ordered the city to examine moving away from it.
Official figures for July show there are 73,040 homeless across Los Angeles County, including 45,194 within the city.
