Westside : Panel Opposes Razing Affordable Housing

A key Los Angeles City Council committee Tuesday registered its opposition to a controversial redevelopment plan that would raze the Lincoln Place affordable-housing complex in Venice and build condominiums on the site.

The Planning and Land Use Management Committee recommended that the council deny the project, which calls for redeveloping one of the largest affordable-housing facilities on the Westside.

The property owners, TransAction Cos. Ltd, has sought to demolish the complex’s 795 apartments and construct 654 market-rate condos, 52 moderately priced condos and 144 low-rent apartments.

The five-year-old redevelopment plan has been opposed by Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, who has raised concerns about the drop in the number of affordable-housing units in the area.

A TransAction spokesman said company officials were surprised by the committee’s decision, because the project already had won approval from the city Planning Department, Planning Commission and Affordable Housing Commission. The City Council is scheduled to take up the matter Aug. 30