LOS ANGELES—Seven nonprofits across Los Angeles County have acquired commercial properties with $10 million in grants aimed at preventing displacement and anchoring local businesses in rapidly changing neighborhoods.
The LA County Commercial Acquisition Fund distributed recoverable grants between $500,000 and $2 million to organizations committed to anti-displacement agreements and supporting diverse small businesses over 30-year covenants with the county.
All seven properties have been purchased across the five supervisorial districts, from Alhambra to Lake Los Angeles, with projects designed to create space for 23-39 businesses, three nonprofits and 125 creative studios.
“Too often, we’ve seen longtime residents and small businesses pushed out by corporate interests and rising rents,” Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell said. “By helping mission-driven organizations ‘buy back the block,’ we’re anchoring opportunity, protecting community identity, and building lasting wealth in neighborhoods too often left behind.”
The program uses American Rescue Plan funds to help nonprofits acquire vacant properties for community-serving economic development, addressing COVID-19’s disproportionate impact on historically disinvested communities.
Recipients include Freedom and Fashion partnering with Backyard Crossfit in District 1, Community Coalition with Primestor in South LA, and Destination Crenshaw with Inner City Kitchen on Crenshaw Boulevard.
Other awardees are Holos in Koreatown, Long Beach Blues Society with Lockout Studios, Pacoima Beautiful in Sun Valley, and Strength Based Communities for Change in Lake Los Angeles.
The county grants leveraged an additional $5.9 million in private investment to complete the property acquisitions, according to the Department of Economic Opportunity.
More than 200 nonprofits applied for qualifying status in May and June 2024, with 39 submitting project proposals for the competitive program administered with Genesis LA.
“In a normal market transaction, private equity capital is often invested to acquire properties in need of redevelopment,” Genesis LA President Tom De Simone said. “But most nonprofits and small businesses lack that capital and thus redevelopment gets stalled.”
Kelly LoBianco, DEO director, said the program represents creative pandemic recovery that addresses ongoing challenges facing small businesses and community displacement.
The fund builds on a $2 million pilot program with the Black Owned and Operated Community Land Trust in Leimert Park and is part of the county’s $25 million Economic Mobility Initiative.
That broader initiative supports 10,000 historically disinvested entrepreneurs and small businesses through education, training and capital access programs delivered by 15 business-serving partners.
The county is expanding the acquisition program beyond COVID-19 recovery with an additional $3.3 million for vacant and underutilized properties in high-need communities. Applications for the expanded program open in fall 2025.
The Commercial Acquisition Fund represents the county’s strategy to combat gentrification by putting community-controlled ownership at the center of neighborhood economic development.
