BACKGROUND
In November of 2012, after the dissolution of the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles (CRA/LA), the Los Angeles Housing Department (LAHD) created the Land Development Unit (LDU) to implement the development of affordable housing on land purchased by the CRA/LA for affordable housing.
In February of 2016, the City of Los Angeles adopted a Comprehensive Homeless Strategy that included strategy 7D, “Using Public Land for Affordable and Homeless Housing.” Shortly after the homeless plan was released, the City Administrative Officer (CAO) launched the Affordable Housing Opportunity Sites (AHOS) Initiative to identify City-owned sites identified for affordable housing.
Since 2016, the LAHD and the CAO have collaborated on the Land Development and AHOS Initiative by developing common processes and regulations. In general, the CAO is responsible for identifying and evaluating City-owned sites for development, and the LAHD is responsible for selecting developers and negotiating disposition development agreements.
In December of 2019, the Los Angeles City Council restricted development of housing on public land by adopting motion (CF 19-1362) which limits projects on public land to 100% affordable housing, unless it is determined by Council that an increased number of affordable units can be achieved through a different business model.
Additionally, LAHD must adhere to the Surplus Land Act (SLA). The SLA is a statute that local agencies must follow when disposing of surplus land. It was amended by Assembly Bill 1486 (Ting 2019) as well as other subsequent bills. These amendments modified the SLA to require local agencies across California to submit notices of availability of surplus land to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) for listing on the HCD website, and to notify interested developers and certain local public entities. Land declared exempt surplus may be exempted from some or all provisions of the SLA by meeting certain criteria. For more information, please visit https://www.hcd.ca.gov/planning-and-community-development/public-lands-affordable-housing-development
CITY OWNED
LAND
As of December 31, 2019 LAHD has 56 publicly owned properties in its land development pipeline. These City-owned land assets include: 1) properties transferred to LAHD from the former Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles (CRA/LA); 2) properties acquired by LAHD; 3) properties foreclosed upon by LAHD, referred to as Real Estate Owned (REO); 4) properties managed and controlled by the City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT), and 5) sites identified by the City Administrative Officer as part of the Affordable Housing Opportunity Sites (AHOS) Program. As new sites are identified and made ready for development, LAHD will release properties through a competitive selection process.
The next Request for Qualifications/ Proposals is tentatively scheduled to be released in the Fall 2023.
REQUESTS FOR
DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS
From time-to-time, the LAHD makes land assets available for affordable single and multifamily housing through a Request for Qualifications/ Proposals (RFQ/P) to a pre-qualified list of affordable housing developers established by the CAO or sell vacant properties through a City contracted real estate broker.
The LDU staff is responsible for the procurement of the RFQ/P and negotiating and executing Exclusive Negotiation Agreements (ENAs) with the selected developers and through the negotiation phase, executing the Disposition and Development Agreement (DDA).
To apply for affordable housing development opportunities on publicly owned land, applicants must be registered with the Regional Alliance Marketplace for Procurement (RAMP) at www.rampla.org.
REPORTS
As required by the California Health and Safety Code Section 33433 with respect to the disposition of City of Los Angeles property acquired with tax increment moneys (CRA), the City Council holds public hearings regarding the site selection and details. Please refer to the below links to access details for City Council Committee Meetings: https://www.lacity.org/government/follow-meetings/council-committee-meetings
Reports are available for public inspection below:
- 33433 Report – 501 E 5th Street 03-27-2024
- 3433 Report – 1808 S. St. Andrews 02-23-2023
- 33433 Report – 5623-5633 Elmer Ave 07-21-2022
- 33433 Report – 3551 E. 4th Street 08-27-2020
CONTACT
INFORMATION
For questions about Land Development, please contact Yaneli Ruiz at 213-808-8951 or Mariano Napa at 213-808-8585 or please email your questions to lahd.landdevelopment@lacity.org.
ADDITIONAL
RESOURCES
Other LAHD Affordable Housing Programs, please visit lahd funding.
To receive information and notifications related to LAHD land development activities, please visit https://housing.lacity.org/about-us/subscribe-to-newsletters
