Snapped this pic this morning (at some risk to life and limb):
2PreserveLA is the group pushing the Neighborhood Integrity Initiative, which is an absolutely disastrous proposal that would effectively block most- or all large multi-use projects in LA.
Why does this matter? Well, the only real way to slow the growth of rent in LA is to add more housing supply.*
There are developers, like Adaptive, adding four units here, nine units there. But the vast majority of new units being created come in large chunks from groups like Holland Partner, Geoff Palmer, etc.
If those large projects are blocked, then it becomes impossible to see how sufficient supply can be added to have any effect at all on rents.
So, here’s what I can’t understand: Why is the Aids Healthcare Foundation, the group funding both 2preservela.org and the NII, and which by all accounts does valuable work, pushing an initiative that is 100% going to make life worse for poor people?
*And don’t believe the BS about new housing being high-end and therefore not having an effect on rents for middle-class and poor people. We’ve literally been turned down for capital on projects by investors concerned about the high volume of new construction… the exact mechanism by which new construction constrains rents on cheaper housing.