Los Angeles (LA4LA/California Community Foundation)
Beyond Traditional Giving: How Place-Based Philanthropy Catalyzes Housing Solutions
LA4LA is a groundbreaking public-private partnership between local philanthropy, the private sector, and the Office of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. The goal of LA4LA is to create a more flexible pool of capital than can reduce the cost of providing affordable housing in the city by lowering the cost of capital, acquiring properties that can be converted into affordable or mixed-income developments, and speeding up housing production. Housed at the California Community Foundation (CCF), LA4LA was launched in 2024 with seed funding from The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.
The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) has worked closely with LA4LA to expand the impact of the new initiative and to accelerate the rapid delivery of deeply affordable housing. In just its first year, LA4LA has helped unlock more than 1,200 affordable units — including several projects in partnership with HACLA.
As an illustrative example of an LA4LA funded project, in January 2025, HACLA and LA4LA acquired Clarendon Apartments in Woodland Hills, a 335-unit multifamily property that was built in 2019. HACLA acquired the Class A property in an off-market transaction at a price that was significantly below the cost to build new affordable housing. The development will be converted into a mixed income project, providing deeply affordable housing units in one of the State of California’s Highest Resource Opportunity Areas, near employment, retail, schools, and other amenities. HACLA was able to sell tax-exempt bonds to finance the property and provided an investment from HACLA’s acquisition equity fund.
HACLA was also able to utilize HUD’s Restore Rebuild program, which adds long-term rental assistance for lower-income families, to help finance this project. This is the first time this program has been utilized in a project in Southern California. Ultimately, the project will include a mix of market rate units and units with long-term income and rent restrictions, including units affordable to families earning up to 30%, 50%, and 80% of area median income. Affordability will be preserved even as units turn over, and no current residents will be displaced as a result of the conversion.
The purchase of the Clarendon is also part of HACLA’s Acquisition Program, which focuses on buying market rate apartment buildings and adding affordable housing for families with a range of incomes. Since 2020, HACLA has been one of the most active buyers in the City of Los Angeles, closing on more than 30 transactions with a value of nearly $1 billion. HACLA also purchases and converts properties in partnership with for profit and nonprofit partners through its Innovative Partnerships Program.