Working to build more affordable housing – especially in affluent areas which have historically excluded working-class people –  has been one of the central priorities of LA Forward Institute for the last eight years. That’s why I am proud that our group is a lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against the City of LA for unlawfully obstructing the Venice Dell affordable housing project.

Venice Dell is a 100% affordable housing project set to be built on a City-owned parking lot. When built, it’ll provide 68 supportive apartments for individuals and families experiencing chronic homelessness and 68 affordable apartments for low-income households and artists, along with supportive service, ground floor commercial space, and a parking structure to replace the spaces in the existing lot. The project, which is being developed by two experienced affordable housing nonprofits (Venice Community Housing and Hollywood Community Housing Corporation) has been in the works since 2016 (!). It is part of the City’s plan to develop its land for affordable housing and the City itself specifically asked for developers to propose affordable housing on this site. The City and the nonprofit developers made a binding agreement in 2022 to build the housing, after 18 rounds of public meetings.

Unfortunately, progress on the remaining bureaucratic approvals has halted due to the efforts of City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto and District 11 Councilmember Traci Park. Both campaigned against the project when they ran for office in 2022. Now they're using their offices to tie up the Project in red tape outside public view and in violation of multiple laws, preventing the project from getting to the finish line. These delays are undermining the City’s own housing policies and contributing to the city’s homelessness and affordability crisis. 

This issue is a personal one for me. I’ve lived on the Westside for nearly 20 years. The rent-controlled apartment where I reside with my wife and two little kids has been a lifeline in tough financial times. We’ve seen more and more of our neighbors forced out of the Westside and out of LA as whole. Many have become homeless as the housing market has entered an upward spiral. We’ve seen more and more senior citizens who are long-time residents of our neighborhoods become homeless, forced to spend their retirement struggling to survive on the streets despite their physically and medically vulnerable state. It is a moral outrage and it is unacceptable.

The housing crisis is real - and it's worsening by the day. More than half of Angeleno renters are rent-burdened, and 28% are severely rent-burdened, paying more than 50% of their income on rent and utilities. The price of the median detached single-family home in Los Angeles is nearly $1 million. That means to put 20% down, a family would have to have $200,000 saved, nearly triple the median income in Los Angeles. 

In particular the Westside needs and deserves affordable housing equally to any other part of the city and so far, we haven’t been getting it. As an organization, LA Forward Institute aims to make Los Angeles County into a fair, flourishing region where our public institutions ensure that all people can live in dignity and reach their fullest potential as human beings. But in order to achieve that mission we must build more housing for our unhoused and struggling neighbors, even in the face of wealthy, well-resourced opposition. We can do better and we must do better.

Donate to support our work to build more affordable housing and hold local government accountable

Our Lawsuit In the News

KTLA. Watch here to see LAFI Executive Director, David Levitus, speak at a press conference announcing the lawsuit. 

Los Angeles Times: “As a city, we could be creating far more affordable housing if only we weren’t being obstructed at every turn by people who don’t think their part of town needs to do their fair share,” said David Levitus, executive director of LA Forward Institute. Read more here.

Los Angeles Public Press: We didn’t want to file this lawsuit,” said David Levitus, executive director of LA Forward Institute. “There hasn’t been a good faith effort by the City. It’s been endless delay and obstruction.”  Read more Read more here. 

Thank you for your support!

In solidarity, 

David Levitus, Ph.D.
Founder & Executive Director
LA Forward Institute