For roughly 70 years, Baldwin Village has been a vital source of workforce housing in Los Angeles.
A naturally occurring affordable housing community, Baldwin Village had no affordability restrictions on its 669 units and was in danger of converting to higher-income apartments, displacing longtime residents.
Avanath Capital Management, in a joint venture with the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) and Kaiser Permanente, acquired the property for $220 million in 2022. It then converted 468 of the homes to affordable housing, restricting them to residents earning no more than 60% and 80% of the area median income. The other units remain workforce housing.
“Preserving Baldwin Village’s affordability ensures that the community will stay true to what is important to the people who’ve lived there for generations, who’ve raised families there—a place they call home—while also allowing them to benefit from the economic revitalization taking place in their neighborhood,” says Saul McDonald, senior vice president of investments at Avanath.
When the firm closed on the acquisition, it immediately created 468 “capital A” affordable units, he says.
The firm is completing early impact renovations at Baldwin Village this year, with plans to do a large-scale rehabilitation of the 24-acre property over the next several years.
For the acquisition, Avanath and HACLA teamed as part of the housing authority’s Innovative Partnerships Solicitation program that seeks to expand affordable housing in the city.
Kaiser Permanente operates a large medical facility across the street from the housing and became an investor in Baldwin Village.
Baldwin Village is Avanath’s second market-rate-to-affordable conversion without the use of low-income housing tax credits.
