LOS ANGELES, CA — Today, Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, in partnership with Women Organizing Resources, Knowledge, and Services (WORKS), broke ground on Grace Villas, a 48-unit affordable housing development that will bring deeply affordable homes to the heart of Lincoln Heights.
The project will transform an underutilized City-owned surface parking lot off of S. Avenue 24 into a vibrant new community of permanently affordable apartments, including 21 one-bedroom, 15 two-bedroom, and 12 three-bedroom units. All homes will be reserved for households earning between 30% and 60% of the Area Median Income (AMI) — including low-income families, transitional-aged youth, and residents with developmental disabilities.
"Grace Villas is what it looks like to use every public tool we have — every piece of land, every policy, every dollar — to fight displacement and make this city work for our people,” said Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez. “Everyone, no matter their income, age, or ability, deserves a safe, dignified, and affordable place to call home.”
The project is made possible in part by funding from the ULA Accelerator Program, which invests in creating and preserving affordable housing across Los Angeles. Since its inception, Measure ULA has raised over $800 million, providing rental assistance and eviction prevention to more than 11,000 households, creating or preserving nearly 800 deeply affordable homes, and funding programs that help seniors, tenants, and families remain stably housed.
“Breaking ground on Grace Villas today is the next step in Measure ULA’s Accelerator Plus program — nine apartment buildings full of affordable homes, even before the thousands of affordable homes that will come out of the largest affordable housing availability in Los Angeles history,” said Joe Donlin, Director of United to House LA, the coalition of more than two hundred organizations that worked to pass Measure ULA. “These homes join the many ULA programs to keep renters housed, provide income support, advance social housing and even help first-time homebuyers — all part of the Measure ULA promise to make L.A. a city where people can afford to live."
Councilmember Hernandez highlighted the importance of defending ULA against ongoing attacks by corporate landlords and real estate lobbyists seeking to overturn it.
"Those who have profited most from our city’s housing market should reinvest a small fraction to help the people who built this city stay here,” said Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez.
The Councilmember was joined by representatives from WORKS, the Los Angeles Housing Department, Linc Housing Corporation, GTM Holdings, and the United to House LA Coalition, who all emphasized that the Grace Villas project stands as a model for how Los Angeles can prioritize people over profit and use public land to meet urgent community needs.
“We are delighted to be partnering with Linc Housing, GTM Holdings and the City of Los Angeles to begin construction on Grace Villas, a community that will serve families and individuals of modest means, who will be able to live affordably in the community of Lincoln Heights,” said Mary-Jane Wagle, CEO of Women Organizing Resources, Knowledge and Services (WORKS). “This development is named after Channa Grace, long time leader of WORKS, whose dream it has always been to help make sure every Angeleno has a decent, stable home they can afford.”
The event celebrated the decades of grassroots organizing in Lincoln Heights and the partnership between the City, nonprofit housing organizations, and advocates that made Grace Villas possible.
“Grace Villas shows what can happen when mission-driven partners like Linc Housing and WORKS Housing come together with the City of Los Angeles,” said Rebecca Clark, CEO of Linc Housing. “This collaboration reflects a shared commitment to addressing the housing crisis with lasting solutions. By transforming an underused city lot into affordable homes and opportunity, we are creating a place where families, youth and individuals with disabilities can build stability and thrive.”
Photos from today’s event can be found HERE.