New Economics for Women (NEW) Takes Ownership for Future Affordable Housing with a Focus on LAUSD Teachers
Latina-led organization New Economics for Women (NEW) purchases a building with support from a $5.5 million LISC acquisition loan. In doing so, NEW nullified this deed’s original racist directive, taking ownership of this property to create a new vision that centers people of color. NEW will improve the acquired property to build mixed-use space for commercial use and affordable housing. When complete, the site will be home to 60 housing units, with inclusion of LA Unified School District (LAUSD) staff in mind.
“No part of said premises shall ever at any time be sold, conveyed, or leased to any person of African, Chinese, Japanese or Mexican descent,” reads the 1920s-era deed restriction on 303 Loma Drive in Los Angeles’ Reseda neighborhood.
But in March 2023, Latina-led organization New Economics for Women (NEW) purchased the building with support from a $5.5 million LISC acquisition loan. In doing so, NEW nullified this deed’s original racist directive, taking ownership of this property to create a new vision that centers people of color.
New Economics for Women (NEW) was chartered in 1985 as the first Latina-operated community economic development nonprofit in the United States. NEW’s mission is to spark economic mobility for all women and families, particularly Latinas, through wealth creation, housing, education, entrepreneurship, and advocacy for women and their families. In their 37 years, NEW has developed over 1,400 units of affordable housing, commercial space, two public charter schools, a health clinic, and community center. NEW applies an innovative community asset-building methodology in all its work to construct a family legacy of empowerment, and this project is their latest example to date.
The clause from the property’s original 1920s era deed restriction, preventing sale to non-White buyers.
The purchase supports their housing and education pillars: with this acquisition, NEW secures a mixed-use property adjacent to its [culturally competent] public charter school to expand programmatic services and support their long-term mission.
The project is a sustainably designed, mixed-use development in a historically yellow-lined census tract. By creating a redevelopment plan for the parcel, NEW is building deeper community through housing and education in tandem with supporting Reseda’s Latino immigrant and working-class families.
NEW will improve the acquired property to build mixed-use space for commercial use and affordable housing. When complete, the site will be home to 60 housing units, with inclusion of LA Unified School District (LAUSD) staff in mind. Like all NEW housing, these units will be designed with prospective residents as a core part of the planning and design process. All units will provide affordable, safe and quality housing. NEW also plans to expand its Entrepreneurial Hub and Women’s Business Center services into the Reseda community, further expanding opportunity.
LISC’s flexible financing terms also provide NEW room to conserve liquidity for use in the predevelopment and planning of the strategic redevelopment of the site to further its vision.
NEW’s vision is a world where generations of women and their families thrive – NEW is an organization driven by the core belief that economic stability and mobility is a fundamental human right. With this purchase, NEW is furthering that goal for families to come, building a NEW legacy of inclusion and prosperity in Reseda.