Join Lucile Ave's Fight Against Gentrification
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✨ 2025 UPDATE:
Welcome to our new GoFundMe! Our efforts to secure tenant-led ownership of our building are growing—and evolving. We’re now partnering with Union de Vecinos (@uniondevecinos) to help make this dream a reality. Since GoFundMe requires a new campaign when the recipient changes, we’ve started this fresh page.
You can still view our original fundraiser (and all the amazing support we've received so far) here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/i-love-lucile-ave
We are the I Love Lucile Ave Tenants Association. In Spring 2023, our building went up for sale, and we successfully lobbied our landlord to enter into escrow with the Beverly-Vermont Community Land Trust (BVCLT), a non-profit dedicated to preserving cooperatively owned low- to middle-income housing in Los Angeles.
However, after recent state budget deficits and funding cuts eliminated the grants that would have supported this acquisition, we’ve had to adapt and take matters into our own hands. We have now formed an LLC to purchase the building ourselves, with the support of Union de Vecinos (@uniondevecinos), a tenant-led organization and Eastside Local of LA Tenants Union fighting for housing justice in LA.
As part of our path forward, we have identified ourselves as strong candidates for the upcoming United to House LA (ULA) fund (housing.lacity.gov/ula), which could provide critical funding to help secure the building. While we pursue this and other grants, we need your help to close the gap and ensure tenant-led ownership!
Will you donate $25 today to save our homes, create a hub for tenant organizing and show how we can fight gentrification and displacement with the power of community?
Or, if you can't donate, please consider following or sharing us on social media right now! Spreading the word is absolutely essential to this project!
Or share a social media post right now! Here's a sample:
Help the I Love Lucile Ave Tenants Fight Gentrification! ✨❤️ gofundme.com/f/join-lucile-aves-fight-against-gentrification ✊ #AffordableHousing #losangeles #silverlake #koreatown #easthollywood #community #LATenants #lgbtqia
About the project
Acquiring and transitioning this building to tenant-led ownership is a critical step in the fight for long-term housing stability in Los Angeles. By forming an LLC with the support of Union de Vecinos (@uniondevecinos), we are creating a tenant-driven model that keeps housing affordable, democratic, and community-controlled.
This project also strengthens our connection with the Los Angeles Tenants Union (LATU) (latenantsunion.org) and the broader movement against displacement. By successfully purchasing our building, we aim to inspire and empower other tenant associations and locals—especially those organizing against slumlords and eviction—to see collective ownership as a real and achievable solution.
This historic building is owned by two brothers who inherited it from their family. They need to sell and have expressed interest in selling to a community land trust or tenant-led group that will preserve affordability, protect current tenants, and support cooperative ownership.
The tenants here are all long-term residents, with more than half identifying as LGBTQ+, making this one of the few remaining affordable rental buildings in Silver Lake.
Originally built in 1908 on Bunker Hill, this building has already survived one displacement: during the infamous 1960s "slum clearance," which leveled the entire neighborhood, it was moved to its current location in south Silver Lake, near Koreatown & East Hollywood. Now, we are fighting to ensure it isn’t lost again—this time to gentrification and speculation.
The five current tenants have lived in this building for a combined 106 years and have played a key role in the Los Angeles Tenants Union (LATU) and VyBe, a LATU local in Koreatown. In fact, VyBe was born in the living room of one of the tenants in this very building and continues to provide mutual aid and tenant organizing support in the surrounding neighborhoods.
Because of this longstanding commitment to housing justice and deep community ties, we are working to acquire the building ourselves with the support of Union de Vecinos, ensuring that tenant-led organizing remains at the heart of this transition. This project will not only stabilize our home but also serve as a model for other tenant-led building takeovers across Los Angeles.
Financials
- The building is currently listed at $1.4 million, and we—its tenants—are working to acquire it ourselves, with the support of Union de Vecinos. We've already raised the 3% down payment thanks to our community’s incredible support, including contributions through this GoFundMe.
- Rather than relying on traditional debt, we are pursuing a grant from the upcoming United to House LA (ULA) fund to cover both the purchase and essential rehabilitation of the building. We're also seeking zero-emissions rehabilitation grants to support long-term affordability and environmental sustainability. While we do have access to optional debt services—such as a potential loan from LEAF, a non-profit CDFI—our goal is to prioritize grants, patient capital, and community donations to keep housing costs low for tenants.
- We are also fundraising outside of GoFundMe, gathering support from community members and housing justice advocates.
- We are asking you to make a small donation of any amount. Or if you can't, please like and share our project on social media - it will help a lot!
- If you are interested in making a larger donation or setting up a tax-deductible patient capital loan to complete this project, we would LOVE to hear from you! GoFundMe prevents us listing an email address, but you can message us via our Facebook Page or find our email there: I Love Lucile Ave TA on Facebook
Future fundraising
We see multifaceted grant possibilities for:
- Cultural + community programs
- Ecological conservation
- Capital projects
- Historic preservation
For over 11 years, we have been planting and maintaining California native plants at Lucile Ave, creating a thriving habitat with white sage, ceanothus, California buckwheat, toyon, native milkweed, poppies, wildflowers, and more.
By doing this, we directly support local pollinators—including bees and monarch butterflies—while also providing a highly visible example of sustainable landscaping to the neighborhood and the hundreds of daily visitors at the Bellevue Recreation Center across the street.
We see incredible opportunities to educate the community, collaborate with the park on native plant restoration, and create a hub for native seed propagation and distribution. This project is about more than housing—it’s about stewarding the land and fostering ecological resilience for generations to come.
What if we fail to raise $1.4 million and acquire the building?
- This property will almost certainly be sold to a private developer who will Ellis Act the residents, demolish the building or flip the units, and charge a premium market rate per rebuilt unit. In other words, further gentrification is all but certain.
- The good news is, no matter what, your donation will make a difference! If we cannot acquire the building, all donations will go to the Los Angeles Tenants Union (https://latenantsunion.org/) that fights for housing rights in Los Angeles!
Why this project, now? How does it help fight gentrification in Los Angeles?
- Large-scale housing acquisitions often focus on bigger buildings owned by slumlords, using public funds like grants to secure long-term affordability for working-class tenants. Our building is smaller but uniquely significant—it is in disrepair, houses mostly low-income tenants, and has deep ties to the Los Angeles Tenants Union (LATU).
- When the governor cut the $500 million state fund in May 2024 that could have helped fund this acquisition, our original path to purchase fell apart. But we refused to give up. Now, we are working to purchase the building ourselves as tenants, with the support of Union de Vecinos.
- We hope to put in a new offer as soon as possible, using a combination of funds from this GoFundMe, larger donors, patient capital lenders, and a loan from a non-profit CDFI like LEAF. At the same time, we are actively pursuing a grant from the upcoming United to House LA (ULA) fund to help cover both purchase and rehabilitation costs. We're also exploring zero-emissions rehabilitation grants to support long-term affordability and environmental sustainability.
- This project is more than just one building—it’s a template for cooperative housing acquisition across Los Angeles. 70% of Angelenos are renters, and interest in tenant-led ownership models is skyrocketing. Public funding for housing acquisition will return, and agencies and community groups are watching our process RIGHT NOW to see how it can be done despite current state funding cuts. If we succeed, we can help pave the way for future tenant-led acquisitions across the city.
- Beyond housing, this building will continue to serve as a gathering space for LATU events and community organizing, strengthening the tenant movement. Its high visibility will act as a deterrent to predatory developers and landlords, helping to keep local rents in check by demonstrating tenant power. We envision a permanent LATU or housing rights mural on the building’s street-facing side, reinforcing its role as a beacon of housing justice in the neighborhood.
- And finally, this project will outlive all current tenants, preserving low- to middle-income housing for generations to come.
Summary
- Prevents displacement for elderly LGBTQ+ tenants, including those who have lived in Silver Lake since 1971.
- Preserves Silver Lake’s multigenerational, cross-class, LGBTQ+ character in the face of gentrification.
- Creates a model for tenant-led housing acquisition in Los Angeles, proving that cooperative ownership is possible.
- Strengthens the LA Tenants Union (LATU) and Koreatown locals like VyBe by providing a permanent organizing space.
- Visibly fights gentrification in South Silver Lake, Koreatown, and East Hollywood, standing in solidarity with poor and working-class tenants against speculative development.
- Supports cultural & community programs, native plant and habitat restoration, and historical preservation.
- Establishes four permanently affordable, tenant-owned housing units, securing long-term stability for generations to come.
Organiser
Andrew Lush
Organiser
Los Angeles, CA