LOS ANGELES—The Los Angeles City Council voted on Friday, May 27, to try to buy a 124-unit housing development in Chinatown by exercising the power of eminent domain, in an effort to keep some of the tenants housed amid rent increases by their landlord, who does not want to sell the building to the city.
Councilman Gil Cedillo, who represents the neighborhood, said the vote is “a major step” in the acquisition of the building and a “part of the very extensive process of eminent domain.”
Councilors voted 12–0 to begin the process.
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 percent after the building’s affordability covenant expired….