By Jorge Casuso
February 9, 2026 -- The City of Santa Monica is taking steps to relocate homeless services and temporary shelter from Downtown as a key component of its citywide "Realignment Plan."
The City Council on Tuesday is considering greenlighting negotiations to lease space at two neighboring homeless facilities in the Pico Neighborhood and a motel used as transitional housing in Sunset Park.
The properties at 1905 and 2019 Pico Boulevard operated by The Manor and the Palm Motel at 2020 14th Street would provide temporary housing and services for homeless individuals currently staying at SamoShel, according to top City officials.
The move comes as LA County pulls its homeless programs out of the spaces, allowing Santa Monica to take over and gain operational control, according to officials.
While Councilmembers declined to discuss the privileged lease negotiations taking place in closed session, they addressed the City's plan to move some of the homeless services out of the struggling Downtown.
As part of the Realignment Plan "we're trying to move SamoShell and want to find an equal number of beds we can control," said Mayor Caroline Torosis.
Said Councilmember Lana Negrete, "We're trying to take an assessment of what we have and what we need."
The Manor's three-story property at 1905 Pico Boulevard has 155 beds, while its property at 1921 Pico Boulevard has 16 units ("City Negotiating to Lease Housing for the Mentally Ill," February 6, 2026).
Of the combined total, some 50 beds have been "decommissioned" by the County and are currently available, officials said.
The Manor, which is State licensed, provides limited services, including distributing medications, and houses some residents who have lived in the "supportive environment" for decades, City officials said.
"A certain number of beds and staff are equipped to serve certain populations," including those with mental illness, Negrete said.
The County also has 34 beds at the Palm Motel, located next to a gas station on the southwest corner of Pico and 14th Street in Sunset Park, that are shutting down in the next few months, officials said.
The motel has been taking part in the County's Pathway Home program created with a $51.5 million State grant during the coronavirus emergency to provide temporary housing for the homeless.
The program, which partners with local jurisdictions, "brings people off the streets and into immediately available interim housing accompanied by a comprehensive suite of supportive services," according to the County's website.
The goal of the program is to ultimately place the participants into "safe, Permanent homes" and remove encampments and "unsafe recreational vehicles (RVs) and other debris from community spaces," such as side streets and under freeway underpasses.
According to Negrete, some of the beds opening up at the homeless transitional housing facilities the City is considering are leased by other jurisdictions, including the City of Malibu.
Santa Monica is working to "buy beds" in other jurisdictions and plans to eventually reserve those in Santa Monica for chronically homeless individuals who have been living on Santa Monica's streets, according to officials.
City Manager Oliver Chi "wants a referral system, as opposed to an open revolving door where people are coming from all over the county and country and putting a strain" on City services, Negrete said.
"Fire and police are now social workers just to respond to homeless people," the former mayor said. "It's costing us."
Santa Monica attracts homeless individuals from outside the City not only because it offers more services, Negrete said.
"We're very close to transit and easily accessible by train, bus and free transportation," she said. "We end up with a population meandering on the streets.
"They're not here because they are missing their rents and lose their apartment in Santa Monica."