VA Terminates Village Lot and School Leases
This week, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced the termination of the Brentwood School and Safety Park leases. This action follows a series of recent court rulings regarding private leases on the VA campus.
In 2024, a federal court ruling found multiple private leases at the West LA VA campus — including Safety Park’s lease for the Village Parking Lot and Brentwood School's lease for a portion of its land used for athletics — violated the West Los Angeles Leasing Act for failing to principally benefit veterans. Recently, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the finding that Brentwood’s lease violated the West Los Angeles Leasing Act but also held that the lower court went too far by barring the VA from renegotiating new leases with Brentwood School and others like Safety Park.
In its press release February 9, the VA said:
"These terminations will enable VA to reclaim the properties for their rightful purpose of serving Veterans as the department continues to implement President Trump’s executive order to establish on the West LA VAMC campus a National Center for Warrior Independence for Homeless Veterans. The center will provide housing and support for up to 6,000 homeless Veterans by 2028. VA is currently examining a range of design and construction options for NCWI, and the department will continue to release updates as final decisions are made on the project."
Given this action and statement by the VA, the realistic chance of successfully negotiating new leases seems low. Nevertheless, the Brentwood Homeowners Association will stay involved and seek solutions that benefit all parties, including the Veterans, the businesses at Brentwood Village, and the school, all while mitigating adverse traffic and parking impacts on the community.
For additional background, including court filings, news updates, and documents related to the West LA VA campus, visit vetsadvocacy.org, which is closely monitoring the developments of the court cases.
