BOYLE HEIGHTS : Residents to Upgrade Estrada Apartments

Residents of Estrada Courts are training for jobs to improve the 50-year-old housing project under a plan that will allow them to take over the management and ownership of their units.

So far, 10 formerly unemployed residents have been hired for jobs under a $500,000 project to replace the housing development’s water and sewer system, said Jose Villalobos, senior vice president of The East Los Angeles Community Union (TELACU).

The agreement between the Estrada Courts Resident Management Corp. and the Los Angeles Housing Authority calls for residents to take over management, groundskeeping and maintenance of the 413-unit complex at Olympic Avenue and Lorena Street. No timeline has been established, but officials of the resident management corporation said they hope residents will be in control of the housing project in about five years.

The water and sewer system jobs, which will last five months and pay $10 to $15 an hour, should start by the end of this month, Villalobos said. He said the work will give residents the chance to take part in the upkeep and improvement of the housing development.

Under a plan by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, residents of Estrada Courts have received management training to eventually run the project and later buy the buildings from the government.

The resident management corporation signed agreements last summer with the housing authority and TELACU that eventually will allow it to contract with the housing authority for maintenance and other projects without competing against other contractors.

TELACU will train residents in accounting, obtaining business licenses and bidding for contracts. Residents hope to win bids for government contracts at other housing projects as well as private construction jobs, said Abraham Paez Jr., resident coordinator for the Resident Management Corp.

Already residents are hoping to build a self-service laundry at Estrada Courts and proposals are being sent to HUD to build a recreation center there, he said.

“We’re into resident empowerment,” Paez said. “The whole idea behind the joint venture is to learn how to become a business, a construction company and work with the government and private sector. Our goal is in five years to learn how to become an independent corporation.”