Ben Lee

The evolution of ED1 since @MayorOfLA took office and announced 100% affordable projects would benefit from expedited processing:

Boom. Coming to market. Institutional-sized. 118 units. Brand new construction, days from COO. 4186 Western Ave — priced below replacement cost for local operators and mission driven buyers. Perfect candidate to capture the welfare tax exemption and push stabilized cap well above competing new construction inventory. DM for full playbook.

Something I wish someone told me earlier in my brokerage career: obsess over your target audience as much as product specialization.

New shop. Same mission. Moved the team over to Lyon Stahl. Pipeline of over $70M in active inventory and escrows. Active deals across land, new construction, affordable, and student housing mean real conversations with operators still transacting in a challenging market. DM to catch up.

This pocket just south of DTLA has been the backbone of countless portfolios I’ve underwritten. Family offices stack these bread-and-butter assets — low-basis, cash-flow positive deals that balance out negative leverage on the Westside. Here’s one I’m taking to market. 6.55% cap, 8.67 GRM, 2 brand-new ADUs, 40%+ rent upside. DM for more info.

These older mixed-use assets are the largest stock of affordable housing in LA. They’re not glamorous, but they’ve been the foundation of countless portfolios I’ve underwritten. Dozens of successful family offices and long-time LA investors that have bought or sold some version of this on their way up. This one is a 9% cap going in and won’t last. DM me for details.

I'm primarily a listing agent, but some buy-side wins just hit different. Just closed on 13k SF of vacant land in Echo Park at $138/ft w/ 12-mo escrow to get buyer near RTI, zero out-of-pocket. Final project will deliver ~55 units of workforce housing for DTLA earners < $85k.

“Ben, we need to sell. Where do we price this USC building to move ASAP?” - $400 / foot - 7.67% cap - 8.42 GRM 24 beds, patrol zone. Fully leased for AY ‘25-‘26. Superior north of campus location. Kids love these townhomes with actual rooftop decks / amenities to party.

Most ED1 projects aren’t getting built. A small group of builders are making them pencil in 2025, despite all the headwinds. Intel in the vid below:

An 8-unit for $1M. An off-market 33-unit. A vacant double lot well under list. 3 of the juiciest deals I’ve sold — and how my buyers got them before anyone else. 🎥👇

3 recent trades: • 276 units – Baldwin Village • 246 units – North Hollywood • 84 units – Azusa What do they have in common? They’re all part of an emerging LA multifamily play giving investors stable yield + potential property tax exemptions. It’s called NOAH — Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing.

Most apt investors have never heard of this NOI play. It is called Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (NOAH). Partner with a nonprofit, convert RSO or workforce units, get the welfare tax exemption. Lower expenses. Stable occupancy. In some LA submarkets, voucher rents beat market. (video below)

RSO units are LA’s largest source of affordable housing, and value-add groups are starting to rebrand their business plans as NOAH plays. Just closed a 3-building portfolio with ~40% voucher tenants. Buyer’s investing real capex and partnering with subsidy providers as units turn—a win across the board, especially with voucher rents now meeting or beating market in many LA submarkets.

Boom. Taking the (maybe?) most viable RTI ED1 deal in LA to market. Studio City. High Resource Area. AvalonBay is around the corner asking roughly 20% above covenant rents. That’s the spread and gap to market. As of July 1, income ceilings are $84,800. One-bedrooms are at $2,272 with VPS upside to about $3,000 once HUD funding returns and SAFMR tiers are restored. 89 units mostly 1+1s and Type III construction. Designed by one of the top names in the game, bonus points if you can guess based off the rendering. Already demoed, vacant, RTI, and priced right. Build to around ~250 bps over stabilized cap. Pathway to additional upside through Section 8 or the WTE. DM to walk through the numbers and plans.

@BayWestInvest There’s a small “all other zip codes” on the bottom that it falls under, most of the lower resource area old Tier 1s now fall there

@EntitlementPro Is it just me or is 90043 missing from the new schedule?

It’s been quite the roller coaster for South LA builders and RSO operators trying to fill vacancies with HACLA vouchers. 2024 – 1+1s leased at $2,407/month. Leasing velocity was strong—10 to 15 move-ins per month. 2025 Q1 – HACLA dropped the 1+1 VPS to $2,172 for lower resource areas. Pro formas crushed. FMR now split into eight tiers to promote voucher mobility. 2025 Q2 – Budget cuts hit. Permanent vouchers pulled. Filling vacancies through traditional channels became significantly harder. 2025 Q3 – HACLA adjusts VPS again to address budget cuts. FMR now moves to 4 tiers. South LA VPS for 1+1s increased by ~$100 to $2,289. Now try brokering, syndicating, or building a business plan around all of that over the past 12 months 😂

@BayWestInvest $84,800 is the updated 80% AMI ceiling 👀

@EntitlementPro To qualify for a $2,200/mo rent, using 3x gross income, you need to make at least $76k. But for ED1, you can’t make more than 80% of AMI, right? Which is $77k. Seems really hard to rent units to people that qualify but don’t over-qualify.

LAHD increased covenant rent schedules yesterday for ED1 projects. It reduces the gap to market in rents for affordable builders, making an all covenant leasing strategy much more viable for projects in neighborhoods like Mid City and Studio City where devs can now get up to $2,272 for 1+1s.

Sites like this 6,424 SF C2 lot on Melrose I just listed stand to win big if/when bonus depreciation is reinstated. Owner-users can build custom space and expense massive upfront costs. Attorneys, indie agencies, architects, etc. Perfect setup: custom buildout, low basis, shelter income. Also, central location, QOZ, no relocation risk, and pathway to boutique mf / townhome dev potential under current zoning.