Los Angeles apartment complex purchased to secure 50 years of affordable housing

The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, aka HACLA, has completed a multi-million dollar purchase of an apartment complex in Crenshaw with a plan of keeping the rentals affordable for decades.

The property is the Residences at Woodlake, an apartment community located at 4555 W. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

HACLA purchased the 276-unit property for a price of more than $76 million.

As part of the purchase, a deed restriction has been placed to ensure that the bulk of the units remain available for residents making less than the city’s median income.

According to a news release from HACLA, half of the units will be restricted to families making less than 80% of the city’s median income, while an additional 10% of the units will be restricted to families making even less.

The restrictions will remain in place for at least 55 years, the Housing Authority said.

The remaining units will remain under L.A.’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance, and the property will also welcome Section 8 vouchers.

Prior to the purchase, rentals at the apartment complex went for market rate with no restrictions. The neighborhood, officials said, is starting to feel pressure from rising rents with the addition of new amenities, job opportunities and improved public transit.

The acquisition will ensure that those who live in the neighborhood will be able to continue to call it home for years to come.

HACLA partnered with Ethos Real Estate on the purchase. The two organizations plan to work together to fund improvements at the apartment complex, which will take over time and will prioritize local hires for any of the work to be done.

This is the second large housing complex that HACLA has purchased. In 2021, the Housing Authority launched a program to allow for partnerships with other businesses to identify and acquire large-scale properties with the explicit purpose of maintaining affordable housing.

In August, the Housing Authority completed a purchase of a 669-unit complex also located in Crenshaw.

“With this transaction, HACLA has partnered to purchase nearly 1,000 housing units just this year, with more than 500 now becoming affordable housing for decades to come,” said HACLA President and CEO Doug Guthrie.

Guthrie said the Housing Authority is dedicated to working with like-minded partners to address the city’s affordable housing shortage and said they look forward to continuing their mission “in the new year and beyond.”