Tenants Say They Submitted Offer on Units

Tenants of Lincoln Place Apartments said last week that they have submitted an offer to buy the aging, 795-unit complex in Venice from the Oakland-based real estate firm that owns it.

Tenant organizer Sheila Bernard would not disclose the value of the offer made by tenants but said they have asked Transaction Companies Ltd. to respond to the offer within 45 days.

Lincoln Place is one of the largest concentrations of affordable housing on the Westside. The 40-acre property also has great development potential, however, and for years tenants have been fighting the owner’s plans to raze the units and replace them mostly with condominiums. The tentative development plan calls for construction of a modest number of apartments, intended as housing for elderly and other low-income tenants who currently live at Lincoln Place.

Tenants want to buy the property with a combination of bonds and government subsidies. They say they can run the property themselves as a nonprofit enterprise, paying for the upkeep of the buildings with the nearly $500,000 that is paid in rent each month.

Transaction project manager Jim Merlino said Wednesday that his company has not yet received the offer.