Tiny homes: 2 elected officials sleep overnight at new Highland Park facility, largest in US

HIGHLAND PARK, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- To raise awareness of efforts to combat homelessness, a California state assemblyman and Los Angeles city councilman slept overnight Wednesday at the Arroyo Seco Tiny Home Village in Highland Park, the largest facility of its kind in the U.S.

The Tiny Home Village sits on nearly 7 acres and includes 117 units.

Los Angeles City Councilman Kevin de León and Assemblyman Miguel Santiago spent the night at the location, ahead of its official opening as a transitional-housing site.

De León and Santiago dinner at the facility and showered there, hoping to understand what it will be like for people who will begin moving into the homes in two weeks.

De León, who is running for mayor of Los Angeles, described the small quarters as comfortable.

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Councilman Gil Cedillo's office said they began offering shelter options to people living in the park starting in January, and as of Wednesday, 257 people had been moved indoors.

"I fell asleep soundly here," he said in an on-camera interview. "I have a heater. It's cold outside right now -- for our viewers, they don't know but it's super cold. Great bed. ... I had the heater on, I had locked that door here.

"It's fantastic. It's a lot better than, again, sleeping on a cold slab overnight," the councilman said.

Each two-bed unit costs about $50,000 when utilities such as electricity, heating and cooling are factored in -- substantially less than other housing options for homeless people, officials say.

The goal is for individuals to reside at the transitional-housing village for four to six months.