Right now, Hillside Villa 山景園 tenants are at risk of losing their home and community due to the greed of their predatory landlord. Tenants are fighting back.
Chinatown, Los Angeles
What is happening at Hillside Villa?
Hillside Villa is a 124-unit apartment building in Chinatown, LA that was previously established under an affordable covenant, a 30-year agreement with the city to house community members at below-market prices. This covenant expired December 2018 without explicit and early notice to the tenants. Immediately, slumlord Tom Botz attempted to increase the rent over 200% for low-income tenants, and dozens of working class families are at urgent risk of displacement unless the city intervenes.
Over the course of the last two years, longtime tenants and organizers -- multiracial, multiethnic, intergenerational, multi-coalitional (HSV TA, CCED, LATU) -- have come together to demand that the city purchase the building via eminent domain to keep the building affordable forever. Eminent domain has historically been employed to displace working class families to build entertainment venues like Dodger Stadium, freeways, bridges, and more.
All of this is occurring against the backdrop of rampant gentrification of Chinatown, a pandemic exacerbating wealth + labor inequality, and an unprecedented housing crisis. Housing instability and class oppression is always racialized and historical within systems in the U.S. If Hillside Villa tenants win their fight, this would set a precedent for eminent domain for good, and inspire fights for housing justice nationwide.
This digital repository contains stories of individuals who call Hillside Villa home and share their stories as a part of a fight to keep pressure on the city -- ultimately, to stay in their longtime homes and keep their families together.