LA Councilwoman Calls for Agency to Develop Underutilized City Real Estate

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky is urging the city to establish a dedicated agency to manage and develop its vast real estate holdings, which she estimates are worth billions of dollars. Yaroslavsky, whose district includes parts of the affluent Westside, argues that many city-owned properties are either vacant or underutilized, representing a missed opportunity for revenue, housing, and job creation.

"The City of LA owns billions of dollars of real estate," Yaroslavsky stated. "Some of it sits vacant, but most is just underutilized: one-story maintenance yards, parking lots, low-slung facilities. We should be following New York’s lead and start putting our land to work."

Her office highlighted a Westside maintenance facility with a small staff, suggesting that the prime land could accommodate housing or businesses alongside current operations, thereby generating significant revenue. However, Yaroslavsky noted that no entity within City Hall is currently tasked with proactively seeking such development opportunities across the city's extensive property portfolio.

"Nobody is looking at whether that land could be put to better use," Yaroslavsky said. "Real estate is not their job. Economic development is not their job. But it should be someone’s job."

According to the city controller's office, Los Angeles owns approximately 7,500 properties within its limits, a number that has previously been cited as nearly 9,000. The city has not publicly disclosed a total valuation for its real estate assets. In 2019, former City Controller Ron Galperin noted the difficulty in assessing value without knowing zoning and expressed surprise that the city lacked a comprehensive understanding of its own holdings.

A review by Galperin's office identified 26 vacant city-owned sites, totaling about 1.7 million square feet or 39 acres. The largest of these was nearly 400,000 square feet in South Los Angeles, with five parking lots in Lincoln Heights accounting for an additional 200,000 square feet.

The process of divesting surplus city property also moves slowly. A May 2026 report to the City Council indicated that the General Services Department was still working from a list of 248 properties identified in a 2018 review. As of the current fiscal year, the city had sold three properties for approximately $302,000 in General Fund revenue, with a fourth sale pending.

The same report recommended declaring 24 city-owned lots in Council District 11, also on the Westside, as surplus, identifying them as "the most valuable City properties." Staff estimated these sales could generate about $5.85 million.

Yaroslavsky pointed to New York City's economic development corporation as a model. New York is currently advancing a plan to replace an aging government headquarters with nearly 4,000 homes, including about 1,000 affordable apartments. Yaroslavsky's office believes a similar agency in Los Angeles could identify sites, negotiate with developers, and assemble projects that individual city departments might not pursue, potentially pairing market-rate housing with affordable units.

This initiative comes as Los Angeles faces financial pressures. The city's budget office projects modest growth in sensitive tax revenues for the upcoming year, below historical averages. Last fiscal year, revenue fell $160 million short of budgeted expectations. City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo emphasized the importance of maintaining the city's long-term fiscal health.

This is not the first time such a proposal has been raised. In 2016, Galperin's office mapped city properties and flagged about 500 as underused, advocating for a chief asset manager. In 2019, he proposed a municipal development corporation, citing the fragmented responsibility for city real estate across various departments. However, those initiatives did not lead to concrete action. Yaroslavsky's office is now reportedly working with Galperin on a new proposal.