Bringing 2024 Olympics to LA could ease housing crisis, city leaders say

WESTWOOD, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Affordable housing and Los Angeles' bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics took center stage at the L.A. Housing Summit at UCLA on Friday.

Casey Wasserman, chairman of the LA24 committee, says if L.A. gets the games, the Olympic Village will help ease the shortage of affordable housing in the city.

"The Olympic Village is a significant legacy opportunity for our city after the games," Wasserman said. "The village would have 17,000 beds for the athletes, coaches and staff, which would then be converted into 5,000 units of both affordable and market rate housing."

L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti says thousands of affordable and market value housing units are being built, whether or not the Olympics come to Los Angeles. The city plans to build 100,000 units by the year 2021.

"We've issued 29,750 construction permits for new housing units since I announced that 100,000-unit goal, putting us on track to meet that 100,000-unit goal by 2021, and a full 37,000 units have been entitled and are in the pipeline already," Garcetti said.

The 1984 summer games were a huge success and made money. And, according to the city, most of what's needed to host the games in 2024 is already built.

"We did it in the past, we'll continue to do it again, and I think it will be great for the economy," Diamond Bar resident Henry Ortega said.

"I think it would be great for the city, especially since the city has changed so much. I would love to show it off to the world," L.A. resident Christian Lebano said.

The International Olympic Committee will decide who gets the 2024 summer games in September 2017.