Knock on evicted tenants’ door is due any day now
DOWNTOWN LA — Dozens of community members set up a tent city in front of Los Angeles City Hall on Friday to protest the mass evictions set to take place if they fail to move out of their Venice apartments.
Representatives from the 180 households who remain at Lincoln Place — a 54-year-old post-World War II apartment complex located on the 1000 block of Elkgrove Avenue — protested during a Los Angeles City Council meeting on Friday in an effort to spark intervention regarding their imminent evictions.
The protesters set up several tents in the grass outside Los Angeles City Hall and posted signs with messages including “stop corporate greed” and “homeless for the holidays.” During the council meeting, they asked city officials to step in on their behalf so they might not be evicted.
The tenants are scheduled to be removed from Lincoln Place, perhaps as early as next week, at the request of their landlord, Denver-based Apartment Investment Management Co. (AIMCO), one of the largest real estate management corporations in the country. The firm plans to redevelop the property into condominiums.
Representatives from AIMCO said they have been fully compliant with the law and will likely soon request that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office enforce court-ordered evictions, which were authorized for tenants in July.
Lincoln Place, a garden-style campus of 52 buildings built in 1951, was originally backed by the Federal Housing Authority to support World War II veterans and their families. However, it always has been privately owned. Once offering 795 affordable apartments, the 38-acre site has been largely abandoned in the face of an ongoing legal debacle that began shortly after 1992, when the property owner proposed a redevelopment plan that called for 850 units to be built on the site, most of which would be market-rate condominiums.
Currently at 20 percent occupancy, Lincoln Place continues to be inhabited by small families, seniors and the disabled. Along with representatives from other organizations, the tenants continue to fight AIMCO’s redevelopment plans.
Hundreds of other tenants settled privately with AIMCO and moved. Some of them are reported to have received thousands of dollars for moving out.
Michael Stenger, a Lincoln Place neighbor and homeowner since 1979, attended the Friday protest, saying he supports tenants’ effort to stay. He said he feels bulldozing Lincoln Place would decrease the amount of affordable housing available in Los Angeles, which would contribute to an already serious shortage.
“We talk about affordable housing so much in this city, but if you get rid of Lincoln Place, you’re talking about getting rid of hundreds of affordable housing units,” Stenger said. “Where’s the humanity in that?”
Patti Shwayder, senior vice president of communications at AIMCO, said her company has taken steps above and beyond what is required by law in order to assuage tenant concerns.
This fall, Shwayder said a summit was held with Los Angeles political leaders intended to resolve the dispute. AIMCO was prepared to provide remaining tenants with apartments at the new Lincoln Place site, in which they would pay below market rent for life. In addition, 45 units were to be designated as historical units that could not be redeveloped.
Shwayder said AIMCO’s offer would have prevented the company from redeveloping at market value one third of the property.
Shwayder said the tenants refused the offer.
Laura Burns, a tenant representative, said AIMCO’s offer was unrealistic. It would have required that tenants settle all disputes out of court and could never sue their landlord.
While more than 100 tenants are expected to be evicted by the sheriff’s office within weeks, an additional 80 elderly and disabled tenants have until March to find new homes, due to their infirmities.
Burns said Lincoln Place tenants facing immediate eviction are considering creating a tent city in Elkgrove Circle, just outside of the sprawling apartment complex.
Burns said tenants would live in the cul-de-sac to protest if, or when, representatives from the sheriff’s office knock on their door.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 5, 2005. Read the original PDF.