Mar Vista Voice - May 31, 2023

The largest mass eviction in LA is underway right here on the Westside, where Douglas Emmet is evicting nearly 600 rent-controlled households at Barrington Plaza. The multi-billion dollar real estate investment trust based in Santa Monica is invoking the Ellis Act to boot these tenants in the middle of a homelessness crisis. And after shoveling $566,000 into the Traci Park campaign for CD11, it’s no wonder our Councilmember is rolling over for this raw deal and hanging her constituents out to dry. 

Douglas Emmett says the move is necessary to install sprinklers and other safety equipment–something the company has refused to do for decades, despite multiple deadly fires. Under the Ellis Act, landlords can remove tenants from rent-controlled apartments only if the building is taken off the rental market. 

But experts contend that the company is improperly applying the Ellis Act, and that it can make the upgrades without permanently displacing nearly 1,000 people and taking desperately needed affordable housing off the market. 

The tenants are fighting back. They have formed a tenants association and can use your support. Check out their website here.