VA terminates leases with Brentwood School, oil company and parking lot; UCLA baseball can stay

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has terminated agreements allowing the Brentwood School and two other entities to use portions of the VA’s West Los Angeles campus for non-veteran uses.

But Jackie Robinson Stadium, where nearby UCLA plays its home-field baseball games, will be allowed to remain on the property.

The VA announced late Monday that it had dissolved deals with the exclusive K-12 private school, along with a company that ran a parking lot on the campus and an energy firm that operated an oil field on the property under a revocable license.

The terminations follow rulings from the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and a Los Angeles federal judge that determined the agreements violated federal law.

In its announcement, the VA said the terminations will enable the agency to reclaim the properties for the purpose of serving veterans as part of President Donald Trump’s executive order calling for the creation of a National Center for Warrior Independence on the campus. The center will provide housing and support for up to 6,000 homeless veterans by 2028, according to the VA.

In a notice posted on its website, the VA said it found that the department has been underpaid by more than $40 million per year by leaseholders based on the value of the properties.

“These groups have been fleecing taxpayers and Veterans for far too long, and under President Trump, VA is taking decisive action to ensure the West LA VAMC (VA Medical Center) campus is used only as intended: to benefit veterans,” VA Secretary Doug Collins said in a statement.

“By establishing the National Center for Warrior Independence, we will turn the West Los Angeles VAMC campus into a destination where homeless veterans from across the nation can find housing and support on their journey back to self-sufficiency,” he added.

Brentwood School officials said in a statement that the VA had offered to meet with them in Washington.

“The VA has offered to meet in Washington, and we look forward to that meeting with hopes of preserving our longstanding relationship and the extensive services Brentwood School provides that so many veterans value,” the school said.

As the result of a lawsuit brought by veterans, a federal judge two years ago issued an order requiring the VA to build more than 2,000 housing units for disabled veterans on the campus. A three-judge appeals panel affirmed the order in December, and the VA said it would ask for a review of the ruling before a full panel of judges.

The appeals court affirmed that the VA’s leases with Brentwood School and oil company Bridgeland Resources violated the West Los Angeles Leasing Act of 2016 and were therefore void.

However, the panel allowed UCLA to continue its lease for the baseball stadium.

The Ninth Circuit decision harshly criticized the VA’s agreements.

“This class action lawsuit, and its numerous appeals, demonstrates just how far the VA has strayed from its mission,” Circuit Judge Ana de Alba wrote in the appellate opinion. “There are now scores of unhoused veterans trying to survive in and around the greater Los Angeles area despite the acres of land deeded to the VA for their care. Rather than use the West Los Angeles VA Grounds as President Lincoln intended, the VA has leased the land to third party commercial interests that do little to benefit the veterans.”

U.S. District Judge David Carter’s landmark ruling regarding the VA’s obligations to provide housing and care for disabled, unhoused veterans delivered a decisive victory for disabled veterans in October 2024. Following multiple hearings in Los Angeles federal court, the judge issued several key orders, including temporarily locking down UCLA’s baseball complex, capping the oil well on the campus, and expediting the construction of temporary housing.

The judge’s final decision followed an earlier ruling requiring the VA to build 750 temporary housing units and 1,800 permanent units within six years on the 388-acre campus. The ruling came after a four-week non-jury trial in which the district court found that the land-use leases were unlawful.

During the trial, the VA argued it was out of space on its campus and that the lack of available acreage precludes any increase to the 1,200 housing units the agency had promised to open by 2030. VA attorneys alleged that any relief ordered by the court would burden the department financially and deprive it of the flexibility needed to solve veteran homelessness.

The Ninth Circuit decision requires the VA to build 750 units of temporary supportive housing within 18 months, construct 1,800 units of permanent supportive housing, and end the use of what was found to be discriminatory income restrictions for affordable housing by ensuring that veterans’ disability payments do not count against their eligibility for supportive housing.