LA County looks to generate revenue by leasing properties for 2028 Olympics

The County of Los Angeles is moving forward with identifying county-owned facilities and properties that visiting countries could use and lease during the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. 

On Tuesday, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a motion requiring the county's acting chief executive officer and other officials to identify and present an inventory of county-owned facilities that could be made available for leasing. 

The motion references the L.A. County’s major budget shortfall for the 2025-26 fiscal year. 

The deficit is driven by over $1 billion in disaster recovery costs, potential federal funding losses and a $4 billion child sexual assault settlement.

The motion states the county faces “a significant structural budget deficit that requires creative, responsible and time-limited revenue-generating strategies that leverage existing public assets without reducing core services."

Many Los Angeles residents could soon be neighbors to international organizations and companies looking to rent county-owned spaces for hospitality, broadcast operations, training sites or other Olympic-related purposes. 

L.A. County currently manages a massive portfolio of assets, including office buildings, facilities and other significant land holdings.

L.A. County assets 

L.A. County leases its properties and facilities primarily through the Chief Executive Office (CEO) Real Estate Division, which negotiates leases and oversees the inventory and valuation of L.A. County properties, as well as leads the work to maximize utilization of county assets. 

The motion by L.A. County Supervisors Holly Mitchell and Lindsey Horvath also called for county officials to create a smaller list of “high priority” sites that could be offered immediately. 

The list must be presented in three weeks.

Economic development

The motion states that leasing county facilities is important for economic reasons, as the county-leased properties could generate money for the county, which has nearly 10 million residents and functions as a regional government for 88 cities and unincorporated areas. 

“Without a coordinated and proactive effort to inventory, evaluate and market these assets, the county risks leaving significant economic opportunity unrealized while neighboring jurisdictions move forward," the motion states.

Falling behind

Mitchell and Horvath wrote in the motion that, despite being the largest county government in the United States, L.A. County might be a bit behind in leasing opportunities for the upcoming games.

“Other jurisdictions within the county are already moving to secure these opportunities," they wrote in the motion. 

They referenced Culver City, which last fall entered an agreement with the New Zealand Olympic Committee to host a national hospitality house and fan zone during the games, as well as the City of Long Beach, which announced agreements with participating countries to establish international houses. 

The New Zealand Olympic Committee's hospitality house and fan zone will have programming projected from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, including music events, medal celebrations and interviews with athletes and coaches. 

At the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the New Zealand House drew 20,000 people for 70 events and 27 cultural performances.

These numbers are expected to increase in the coming 2028 games.