City Votes to Preserve Housing on Skid Row & Elsewhere

Photo by discarted via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr

Contrasting the Los Angeles City Council's vote earlier today on mansionization, affecting single-family homes, another ordinance was passed today -- one that replaces a temporary 2005 law regarding downtown residential hotels, mostly used by low-income and nearly homeless people.

The ordinance protects single-room-occumpancy (SRO) and residential hotels within Los Angeles from becoming expensive lofts and condos. If owners want to convert their buildings, they must meet strict guidelines "requiring them to replace the residential units within two miles of the building or pay a fee that would provide for acquisition of a new site plus 80% of the cost of constructing new units" according to the LA Times.

336 buildings with 18,700 units are affected by the new law. Most are located downtown.