Developer Wins Court OK to Tear Down Apartments

VENICE — A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has ruled against the city of Los Angeles and granted developers the right to demolish an aging and massive apartment complex in Venice occupied by low-income tenants and replace it with market-rate units.

The ruling is an important step in a five-year legal battle that started after the city denied Los Angeles Lincoln Place Investors Ltd. the right to redevelop the Lincoln Place Apartments because too many poor families would be displaced.

On Monday, however, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dzintra I. Janavs ruled that the city had violated state law by prohibiting the project, based on the fact that it would decrease the existing number of low-income units in the area.

The judge later this month is expected to order the city to comply with the ruling and allow developers to start work on the demolition and rebuilding of 795 units on 33 acres off Lincoln Boulevard.