Activists Fear Rising Rents as South L.A. Commission Considers Major Housing Project on Crenshaw Blvd.

A rendering shows the District Square project in South Los Angeles, which officials planned to discuss on Sept. 17, 2019. (Credit: Los Angeles Department of City Planning via L.A. Times)

by: Los Angeles Times

Posted: Sep 17, 2019 / 07:07 AM PDT

Updated: Sep 17, 2019 / 07:07 AM PDT

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The real estate project known as District Square has had a decadelong run of bad luck.

Construction of the project in South Los Angeles has been repeatedly delayed. The developers, who were provided millions of dollars in federal loans, have received multiple default notices from the city. And Arman Gabay, one of the businessmen who conceived the project, was arrested last year on bribery and wire fraud charges. He has pleaded not guilty.

District Square’s fortunes could turn around on Tuesday, when the South Los Angeles Area Planning Commission is scheduled to take up the 577-unit residential project. But the six-story development still faces a key obstacle: activists who are frustrated that the developers have not set aside any units as affordable for low-income families.

“We’d have issues with any project … that has this many market-rate units in a community that’s low income,” said Damien Goodmon, executive director of the Crenshaw Subway Coalition, a group focused on fighting gentrification. “But the fact that there are no affordable units is even more egregious.”

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