Wyvernwood Garden Apartments were established in 1939 in Boyle Heights, CA. Consisting of 70 acres that hold approximately 1200 units, 6000 residents fear relocation due to a proposed 15- year redevelopment project by Fifteen Group. Fifteen Group is a Florida- based development company that is utilizing Wyvernwood as its first west coast redevelopment project. As Los Angeles’s first large scale garden apartment community, Wyvernwood is projected for demolition in order to create 4,400 new units and an additional 300,000 square feet office and retail space. Loyall F. Watson and David J. Witmer, who later became the chief architects of the Pentagon, built Wyvernwood after WWII’s shortage of homes. Architecture was used as a social tool to improve the lives of working class people through quality affordable housing that allowed them to have a sense of community with other residents.
Some residents are currently struggling to preserve their homes while other residents support the demolition and redevelopment of the entire apartment complex. Residents who are fighting redevelopment prefer to utilize Fifteen Group’s proposed $2 billion budget to repair their homes and invest in their existing community rather than demolishing the units to build new ones. Some perceive this project as an act of gentrification, which, according to Neil Smith’s The New Urban Frontier: Gentrification and the Revanchist City, means that middle and upper class housing can be developed in urban areas at the expense of lower class people residing in the proposed redevelopment area. In other words, lower class residents are kicked out, the area is “cleansed”, and the middle and upper class benefit from the final product while developers make their profit. Or as Nestor Rodriguez says in “Urban Redevelopment and Mexican American Barrios in the Socio- Spatial Order”, “The goal is not to redevelop the residential base of neighborhood populations but to reconfigure urban space into a more profitable environment for capital.” The fear of residents losing their homes in order for developers and businesses to make a profit has been seen repeatedly throughout LA’s history through Chavez Ravine, Bunker Hill, and Aliso Village. Some residents fear the environmental impacts that include air quality and cultural resources, which are classified as some of the most significant and unavoidable impacts in Wyvernwood’s Final Environmental Impact Report. One of the air pollutants that would be emitted from the demolition includes high-levels of PM10 concentrations, which are small particles that can get into the lungs, potentially causing serious health problems. The impact on cultural resources has gained the attention of and support from organizations such as the Los Angeles Conservancy. The Los Angeles Conservancy serves to recognize, preserve, and revitalize the historic architectural and cultural resources of Los Angeles County. Wyvernwood has been listed as a historic district in the California Register of Historical Resources and is a candidate for being listed in the National Register for Historic Places. Demolishing this historic district would mean destroying a major architectural achievement of its time and destroying a community that has flourished over generations.
Wyvernwood's original layout.
Supporters of the redevelopment project claim that this project would create a safer environment for their children where they won’t have to fear, for example, being electrocuted by a faulty wall socket. They are excited about having refurbished living units where the plumbing and electricity efficiently works and air conditioning is provided. They believe that Wyvernwood is too old to be preserved and that it’s better to create brand new apartment complexes than to continue spending money on home repairs. Although the project would take 15 years to complete, its construction phases allow some people to continue living in their homes while redevelopment occurs. Those who must relocate are promised one of the new units, at the same affordable rent price, when completed.
Rendering of proposed New Wyvernwood Apartments.
Wyvernwood today.
For More Information
Rodriguez, Nestor. "Urban Redevelopment and Mexican American Barrios in the Socio- Spatial Order." in Latino Urbanism: The Politics of Planning, Policy, and Redevelopment, Ed. David R. Diaz and Rodolfo D. Torres. . New York: New York University, 2012.Smith, Neil. "Part 1: Toward the Theory of Gentrification." The New Urban Frontier: Gentrification and the Revanchist City. London: Routledge, 1996.