A battle is brewing between tenants and their landlord over several parking spots in Koreatown, one of the most dense LA neighborhoods notorious for the lack of street parking.
For people who live in an apartment complex on 5th Street and Kingsley Drive, finding parking will soon become one of their daily struggles: their landlord is turning all parking in the complex into Accessory Dwelling Units or ADUs.
“It’s a win-win as far as the landlord is concerned because it increases his wealth. It’s a win-win for the tax collector is concerned because the appraisal goes up, and they collect more taxes,” Tom Skiles, who has lived in the apartment complex for nearly 30 years, said. “As for us, all of this win-win is a noble idea until you find out that basically they are taking something away from us to make all this win-win possible.”
North Oak Property Management that works for the landlord said the new ADUs will contribute to creating more affordable housing in the city.
Joel Rodstein from the management company said the city signed off on the construction, showing the paperwork to NBC Los Angeles, adding that a new state law that was passed by the state legislature and signed by Governor Gavin Newsom also gave the plan the green light.
“California gave landlords the opportunity to add additional units by converting existing spaces of the building to units to combat the housing shortage,” Rodstein said in a statement.
The landlord said each tenant will get $200 off rent to make up for the lost parking. But the no-parking option may force some people to move.
“Sooner or later, I’m probably going to have to find another place to live,” Skiles said.
Building ADUs to replace parking spots may be emerging as a trend in Koreatown: another apartment complex on Normandie Avenue is also in the middle of construction work to build ADUs.
Angela Fuentes, who lives in the Normandie apartment complex owned by a different management company, said she’s already lost her parking spot.
“I have kids that go to school. They have to go to the doctor, they have to go to do stuff,” Fuentes said. “After 6 p.m. in Koreatown, there’s no more parking.”