LOS ANGELES — One year has passed since the City of Los Angeles voted to start a process to buy a 124-unit Hillside Villa apartment building in Chinatown.

It was done to keep rents low after a 30-year affordability housing covenant expired in 2018, allowing the owner to raise rents to market rate, which some tenants have expressed they cannot afford to pay and are worried about being evicted as COVID-19 eviction protections have expired.

Since the May 27, 2022 vote, the city has not yet made an offer on the building because housing officials have not been allowed on the property to first make an appraisal.

The city is currently seeking a court order to enter the building.

The LA Housing Department general manager, Ann Sewill, told Spectrum News the department “is committed to getting people housed and keeping people housed. While the situation at Hillside Villa is complicated, we’ll continue working with our partners in the City family to contribute to a fair and best possible outcome.”

Marina Maalouf, 67, has lived at Hillside Villa for over 25 years, and says she’s growing increasingly worried and frustrated by how long the city is taking.

“We don’t know how we are going to end up and sometimes, I just get frustrated. I get depressed,” she said.

Maalouf says her rent increased last year from $950 a month to over $2,600 and she and her husband can afford to pay little more than half the amount.

Building owner, Tom Botz, has long resisted the city’s efforts to buy his property.

In a statement to Spectrum News, he said, “The City has continued to push its eminent-domain case forward in court to the extent it can. And we are resisting that, because Hillside Villa is not for sale. At the same time, we continue to talk with the City about finding a solution for those of our valued tenants who have actually been affected by the expiration of the covenants a few years ago. We hope to reach a resolution with the city very soon.”

LA City Council member Eunisses Hernandez, whose district includes Hillside Villa, says while legal proceedings play out, she is considering other options including trying to meet with Botz.

“We are concerned about them getting evicted but that’s why we are trying to figure out what other tools in the toolbox can we used to keep them housed because right now, the eminent domain process — the process that we are in legally — it just taking too long,” she said.

Hernandez says preserving the affordable units is a priority and could serve as a template for over 6,000 units in LA with affordability covenants set to expire by 2028 and 550 of those are in her district.

The next court hearing on the city’s petition for right of entry is set for July 7.