Norwalk breaks ground on mental health treatment and housing campus

NORWALK – State and county officials gathered last week to break ground on a project that will transform several long-vacant buildings at the campus of Metropolitan State Hospital into a mental health treatment and supportive housing village aimed at expanding services for people experiencing serious behavioral health challenges.

The project, known as the Los Angeles County Care Community, will repurpose six unused buildings on the hospital campus into a coordinated treatment and housing campus with 162 beds for people who need mental health services and stable housing.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn joined Bob Archuleta and other county and state officials at the groundbreaking in Norwalk.

The development is a $106 million project funded in part by $65 million from Proposition 1, the Behavioral Health Infrastructure Bond Act approved by voters in 2024 to expand mental health treatment facilities across California.

Officials said the campus will offer multiple levels of care in one location. Plans call for two locked mental health rehabilitation centers with 32 beds for young adults ages 18 to 25 who need intensive treatment. The site will also include a 70-bed interim housing facility providing wraparound mental health services and two permanent supportive housing buildings with 60 apartments for adults exiting homelessness. A sixth building will serve as a shared community space with case management offices, wellness areas and other support services.

Hahn, who proposed the project, said the initiative reflects an effort to repurpose unused public property to address the region’s growing mental health needs.

“These buildings are doing no one any good sitting empty,” Hahn said. “At the same time, we have residents who are struggling with serious mental illness and have nowhere to go. By locking arms with the state, Los Angeles County is transforming these vacant buildings into a mental health care village where people can get the safe, professional and compassionate treatment and housing they need.”

The project became possible after the passage of Senate Bill 1336, authored by Archuleta, which allows the state to lease approximately 13 acres on the hospital campus to Los Angeles County for behavioral health programs.

Archuleta said the legislation created the pathway for the redevelopment of the long-vacant buildings.

“When the governor signed SB 1336 into law, it opened the door to repurpose these buildings into a mental health care community that will provide housing, treatment and critical services for individuals in need,” Archuleta said.

County officials said the campus will provide a continuum of care by combining treatment facilities, interim housing and permanent supportive housing in one location.

Some beds in the interim housing program will be reserved for people experiencing homelessness in Norwalk, according to the county.

The six buildings slated for renovation were constructed in the 1920s and have been vacant since the early 2000s. County officials said construction will focus on adapting and modernizing the historic structures while preserving their character.

Renovation of the interim housing facility and the two mental health rehabilitation centers is expected to be completed in late 2027 and early 2028, while a timeline for the permanent supportive housing buildings has not yet been finalized.