A Los Angeles landlord’s decision to remove parking spaces to make way for five accessory dwelling units (ADUs) is drawing ire from the tenants who would be forced to park elsewhere.
The building is located on the corner of 5th Street and Kingsley Drive in Koreatown, a neighborhood known for its lack of parking, which only heightens the concern for tenants.
A report from the L.A. Times indicates that the owner of the 22-unit building has received all necessary approvals to move forward with construction. It was expected to start late last month, but as of Tuesday had not.
One woman who lives in the building told the Times that tenants were not even notified of the plans; instead, they found them online before they were announced.
“They actually never officially notified us of the construction,” Megan Thomas Bradner, who has resided there for over a decade, said. “All it said was, ‘you have no parking as of this day’.”
Faced with the removal of essential parking spots, some residents have staged a sit-down protest with a plastic table and outdoor chairs occupying some of the parking spaces. Additionally, a banner reading “Say goodbye to your parking spot” was seen draped over a car parked in one of the spots that, in the future, could be someone’s home.
Some of the residents made their way to the table, propped up in one of the parking spots that could be converted, on Tuesday morning and spoke with KTLA about the predicament.
A Koreatown apartment building’s residents are protesting their landlord’s decision to remove parking spots so that five ADUs can be built. 
A Koreatown apartment building’s residents are protesting their landlord’s decision to remove parking spots so that five ADUs can be built. 
A Koreatown apartment building’s residents are protesting their landlord’s decision to remove parking spots so that five ADUs can be built.
“We’ve sent a letter with our demands and reiterating all of the laws [the building owners] are breaking,” said a resident named Lauren. “There has really been no response from [the landlord and property management company]…in fact [they] said they wouldn’t read it.”
Lauren explained that, a few weeks ago, residents received a letter saying their Tenant Habitability Plan appeal was denied; the L.A. Housing Department’s Tenant Habitability Program
protects tenants from untenantable housing conditions and/or forced permanent displacement.
The letter also stated that construction was to begin on Aug. 20, and that was when the tenants thought to set up their sit-down protest “co-working space.”
“Since then, we have had three interactions — none with the landlord, just the property management company,” Lauren said, adding that residents have been offered a $200 rent credit in exchange for the removal of the parking. “It’s only a credit, and this is a total loss of services; therefore, it should be a permanent rent reduction, but that is not what they are offering.”
“They have not given us any type of legal agreement denoting the change in the terms of our lease agreements,” she continued.
Another resident named Megan (it was not immediately verified whether this was the same Megan who spoke to the L.A. Times) who was sitting outside Tuesday morning says that the management of the building, which is rent-controlled, may be looking to price people out.
“That definitely seems to be their aim in the sense that they [want to] make it as untenable and uninhabitable as possible through the loss of services and the nine months of construction that’s going to go on to turn this carport into ADUs,” she said. “All under the guise of creating ‘affordable housing,’ but I have to ask: how is [the construction of the ADUs] creating affordable housing?”
“We have six units that are vacant…why don’t they fill those?” she continued. “Two of them were vacant during the fires; why didn’t they try and rent those to people who needed them?”
KTLA received a statement from the management company that reads in part “We understand the tenants’ concerns. We have and will continue to comply with and follow Los Angeles Housing Department and Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety requirements to add ADUs.”
Late Tuesday morning, the building owner responded to a request for comment and reiterated what the management company said.
“We’re in compliance, doing everything that the law allows us to do and we’re allowed to do this by law,” the owner, Mark Nassab, said. “I know the tenants, they may think it might be inconvenient for them, but in condensed areas, the city allows it and they need and encourage it.”
California law states that, if a tenant exercises their rights, the landlord is not allowed to “take away services or rights that the tenant previously enjoyed, like a storage space or parking,” but a landlord can remove or no longer offer services that are normally available if there is “just cause.”
According to legal experts, examples of “just cause” include government regulations, property renovations and lease violations.
