The City Council on Friday will consider trying to purchase a 124-unit housing development in Chinatown in an effort to keep some of the tenants housed amid rent increases by their landlord.
Residents of Hillside Villa Apartments at 636 N. Hill Place have lobbied since 2020 for the city to use eminent domain to purchase the building, saying that the landlord increased some rent prices by as much as 300% after the building’s affordability covenant expired.
“It’s not that we don’t want to pay rent or that we’re denying to pay rent, but we want a rent that is fair,” a Hillside Villa tenant named Mario said through a translator during public comment in a May 18 City Council meeting. In September 2020, the Department of General Services commissioned an appraisal of the property that established a hypothetical market value leased fee at $45.695 million.
However, the City Administrative Officer estimated last year that the total cost to acquire, rehabilitate and adequately relocate existing tenants on a temporary or permanent basis to comply with affordability requirements would cost nearly $60 million. Landlord Tom Botz told City News Service Wednesday he does not plan to sell the property to the city. According to a report by the Los Angeles Housing Department, if he does not sell, the City Council and the mayor would have to approve the initiation of the eminent domain process in order to purchase the property.
According to Leifer, 71 of the units are occupied by tenants with Section 8 vouchers and already pay market rate rents. He said only people who do not have Section 8 vouchers faced rent increases in 2021.
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