Dear Mayor Garcetti, Council President Herb Wesson, Jr., Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson, and Councilmember José Huizar,

The Santa Fe Art Colony Tenants Association is fighting to save our vital artists’ live/work complex in industrial downtown Los Angeles. Longtime rent restrictions are about to expire, and a new owner, Florida-based Fifteen Group, has announced plans to double rents on November 1, 2019, effectively evicting the artists.               

To save the Santa Fe Art Colony (SFAC) for current and future artists, the Tenants Association has made a purchase offer — its right under California’s Affordable Housing Preservation Law. While the law doesn’t require Fifteen Group to sell, they should be urged to consider the offer and negotiate in good faith, to preserve the Art Colony for the City’s benefit. Unfortunately, Fifteen Group has not engaged in a negotiation with the Tenants Association regarding the purchase offer.                                 

The Santa Fe Art Colony was established with public funding in 1986. In a visionary action, the City committed to fostering artists by establishing LA’s only rent-restricted Artist-in-Residence community. For over 30 years, SFAC’s residents have played a critical role in shaping the city’s cultural landscape and contributing to the renaissance of downtown. The 72 artists of the Santa Fe Art Colony are the last large group of fine artists left in the Arts District, once a thriving community of almost 1,800, priced out by catastrophic rent increases.

The Santa Fe Art Colony was funded with public resources as a public benefit and should continue as an affordable live/work artist complex to enhance the cultural life of the city.

In a city that prides itself on being “The creative capital of the world” and synonymous with arts and culture, what does it say to have an Arts District without artists? We urge you to take a stand to preserve this community asset and ensure its existence for future generations.

— Santa Fe Art Colony Tenants Association