A judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Los Angeles Tenants Union: Hollywood Local against a development group, which had alleged that a planned $1 billion mixed-use project in Hollywood will force people out of their rent-stabilized apartments.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Barbara Scheper ruled March 13 that the lawsuit filed against Harridge Development Group in Los Angeles Superior Court concerning the Crossroads development raised issues that are not “ripe” for court review and should remain for now within the jurisdiction of the city of Los Angeles’ administrative processes.
The project includes 950 residential units, a 308-room hotel and 190,000 square feet of commercial space in nine buildings. The plaintiffs maintain the development would displace people who have lived in the area for years.
The project is planned for a location near the former The Hollywood Reporter building on the 6700 block of West Sunset Boulevard.
Crossroads is slated to demolish 82 apartments that are under the city’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance. Under that ordinance, the union contends, the developers are required to give the tenants a chance to move in where their old residences stood.
Attorney Tyler Anderson, who is representing three current tenants and the union, said the lawsuit’s intent is to guarantee the tenants a place to live in the new development and cap their rent at what it is Friday. Some of the tenants are paying about $1,100 a month, according to the lawsuit.
According to the union, when the development was approved by the Los Angeles City Council in February, there was an agreement in place to give the tenants the right to be able to continue living in that location.
Although about 100 units in the new development will be set for affordable housing, the union said that doesn’t guarantee the tenants would be able to return.
Danny Hernandez, an 11-year tenant of the current apartments, said he would not be able to afford to live in Hollywood if an agreement to allow his return and current rate of rent is not established.
About 50 families would be affected by the development, according to the union.