South LA vendors face eviction to make way for housing development

[ellisonz]

South LA vendors face eviction to make way for housing development
A swap meet will be razed to make way for affordable apartments, made possible by new streamlining legislation — they’re asking LA politicians for help.
by Alfredo Santana
09/21/2023

From left, Mariela Briseño and Fernando Espinoza stand next to shoppers at Fiesta Mini Mall on a Saturday afternoon. (Alfredo Santana / LAPP)

In South Los Angeles, dozens of swap-meet vendors face an ominous threat to their livelihoods.

Swap meet vendor Rene Ramirez, and nearly 60 small retailers fear their jobs are endangered if landlord Eleos Ventures, a real estate development company engaged in purchasing properties to build affordable housing, ousts them from their facility.

“Management only shows up to open and close the swap meet. We, the vendors, are permanently running the place,” complained Ramirez, a clothing and home electronics vendor. “We clean, invest in the place, and even installed padlocks in units and restrooms.”

The swap meet, housed in and around the Fiesta Mini Mall warehouse on 4800 S. Main St. in South LA, has been home to vendors selling electronics, clothing, shoes and hygiene products for 12 years. But in 2021 the previous landlord sold the property for $3.5 million to Eleos Ventures, a developer that plans to build 221 affordable units on the site, a development they’re calling the “Elea Apartments.”

https://lapublicpress.org/2023/09/south-la-vendors-face-eviction-to-make-way-for-housing-development/

[yankee87]

1. Reminds me of Radio Row

when the WTC was built. All the radio shops were torn down to make way for the Trade Center.

[ellisonz]

2. The planned Elea Apartments are no World Trade Center!

This is more about building more expensive housing to capitalize on land proximate, but not in DTLA. There's actually quite a lot of vacant property to be found around here, but it's being held off the real estate market.

[EarnestPutz]

3. Affordable housing? Isn't that a good thing? Going to need more information on this one.

[ellisonz]

5. It's in the article!

[EarnestPutz]

9. Yes, I read the article. A brief synopsis of which might be "Local flea market vendors will be...

....forced to find an alternative site after twelve years as new owners choose to repurpose their property by providing much needed affordable housing to the area". Someone else in this thread said that other properties in the area are being held off the market. I'd like to know more about the area and why this may be the case. I'd like to not jump to the conclusion that some evil landowner is mindlessly hurting some small businesses.

[ellisonz]

10. The developers have no information on pricing or what portion of this will be affordable.

https://www.eleos.la/projects/elea-yknd2

I live in Los Angeles County, grew up here, and no way I could afford what these are going to be priced at most likely.

Capitalism isn't the solution always, that's why people don't like being priced out of their own neighborhoods.

[EarnestPutz]

11. Like I Said, more information. The lack of information on their website is worrisome.

Are there any local codes that will require a portion of units to be affordable.

[ellisonz]

12. Yes, but that's still gonna be out of reach of most of these people.

You might value capitalism at all costs, but others regard this as gentrification.

[EarnestPutz]

15. Excuse me please, but it seems that you and I have seen nothing about the pricing or number of....

.....units deemed to be "affordable". You are also misreading my reluctance to jump to conclusions about this and you are patently wrong in opining about my opinion of capitalism. I don't know about "gentrification" in this instance (again, more information is needed), but if the folks who move into the units, "low income" units or otherwise, make more money than the folks who are losing their flea market venue, that doesn't make them the "gentry".

Simply put, I lack your certainty about this. You may be right. I have heard or seen nothing that would merit such certainty.

So, I'll repeat my first comment. I'm going to need more information.

[ellisonz]

16. Same old, same old here on DU!

[SunSeeker]

21. What constitutes low income/affordable housing is set by CA state law.

"Affordable housing cost” for lower-income households is defined in CA state law as not more than 30 percent of gross household income with variations (CA Health and Safety Code Section 50052.5). The comparable federal limit, more widely used, is 30 percent of gross income, with variations.

A single person making $70k per year is considered low income in Los Angeles County. https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/california-news/what-is-low-income-in-southern-california-los-angeles-finance-money/3179455/

[ellisonz]

22. "A single person making $70k per year is considered low income in Los Angeles County."

[SunSeeker]

4. We need more affordable housing in LA, the swap meet vendors can move.

Housing is more important than swap meets, which we have plenty of.

[ellisonz]

6. The argument made here is that this is essentially gentrification:

“We believe they will raze this building to build housing for people with higher incomes,” said Espinoza. “We think the neighborhood may be in the process of being gentrified.”

He said Eleos management refused to meet them in person, and only did so after two 30-day eviction notices were filed in March and April.

[SunSeeker]

7. Middle class people need housing too.

Rich people will not be moving there.

[ellisonz]

8. This one's a job killer though!

Poor people need jobs too?

[SunSeeker]

13. No it's not. This is a flea market/swap meet. They can set up at another lot.

A common place for them to set up in Southern California is at parking lots of local community colleges, since there are no students parking there on weekends. They can set up their tables at Golden West College or Cypress College, both relatively nearby. South L.A. also has a lot of underutilized industrial lots. They can keep their jobs, they just need to move where they can set up their tables.

[ellisonz]

14. I think that's pretty presumptive.

You need permission from those institutions to do those activities, or from property owners.

[SunSeeker]

17. Anyone can ask to have a table at the Goldenwest or Cypress colleges swap meets.

It's a lot easier to find a table spot at a swap meet than finding housing in L.A.

[ellisonz]

18. So basically these poor immigrant vendors shouldn't complain about getting eviction notices?

From a developer with no established interest in their neighborhood other than property ownership.

I'm sure they'll find a place somewhere!

[SunSeeker]

19. Correct. Like I said, it's a lot easier to find a swap meet table space than housing in L.A.

Seriously.

[ellisonz]

20. Perfecto!