\u201cThere hasn\u2019t been a new generation of starter homes since post WWII. How do we get back to that?\u201d said Dana Cuff, director of UCLA\u2019s cityLAB, which is spearheading this phase of the \u201cSmall Lots, Big Impacts<\/a>\u201d initiative, focused on turning vacant, privately owned parcels into affordable homeownership opportunities.<\/p>\n Small-scale, multiunit housing has been a mainstay of L.A. architecture for more than a century \u2014 from grand Spanish Colonial duplexes in places like Carthay Circle to tidy courtyard apartments<\/a> and boxy mid-century \u201cdingbat\u201d complexes across Hollywood and the Fairfax District.<\/p>\n Courtyard apartments are among the many small-scale multiunit formats found in the L.A. area.<\/p>\n (Carolina A. Miranda \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n But such small-scale housing options have typically been offered as rentals, or sometimes as high-end listings in some of the city\u2019s most desirable neighborhoods. In recent years, L.A. has held some of the lowest rates of homeownership in the state, <\/a>which already falls<\/a> well below the national average. <\/p>\n Until recently, almost three-quarters of the city\u2019s residential areas were zoned only for single-family homes<\/a>. <\/p>\n But with recent legislation<\/a> that upended zoning laws<\/a> across the state, many more lots \u2014 including vacant ones \u2014 are now open for development of small-scale complexes, each of which can be sold individually. This, proponents say, presents an opportunity to develop reasonably priced homes for sale, particularly in communities that may not have many mid-density buildings. <\/p>\n Affordable homeownership is \u201ca big hole in the market,\u201d said Emmanuel Proussaloglou, co-director of cityLAB. \u201cIf we do this right, hopefully this is going to be the first step in making that available.\u201d<\/p>\n Los Angeles has famously struggled to build enough housing to keep up with demand. While some areas like downtown have seen a surge of new units<\/a> over the last decade \u2014 mostly large-scale, high-rise apartments \u2014 many other neighborhoods haven\u2019t kept up. Often, proposals for new developments have faced pushback from resident groups.<\/p>\n But backers of this initiative believe they can find success by focusing on smaller lots that can take on slightly more density than a single-family home, or even one with an accessory dwelling unit, without changing the fabric of a neighborhood.<\/p>\n A rendering shows one of the winning teams\u2019 designs for middle-density residences, which they plan to build on one of the thousands of vacant lots in L.A.<\/p>\n (West of West)<\/p>\n \u201cIf we can figure out a way, through this project, to build five, six, 12 units [on lots] that could otherwise hold one or two \u2026 that seems to be a really sustainable way to build housing in L.A.,\u201d Proussaloglou said. <\/p>\n CityLAB\u2019s analysis found more than 20,000 privately-owned vacant lots primed for such projects. Its search included parcels already zoned for residences that are a quarter-acre or smaller and don\u2019t have any existing structures, he said. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a pretty incredible number,\u201d Proussaloglou said. He pointed out that these lots account for only about 2% of all privately owned parcels in L.A., but still, they \u201ccan have a big impact.\u201d <\/p>\n This week, the \u201cSmall Lots, Big Impacts\u201d initiative announced the three designer-developer teams<\/a> that will bring to life pilot versions of these \u201cmultifamily, attainable homeownership projects … to lead the missing middle revolution in Los Angeles,\u201d according to a news release. The teams are expected to build their unique housing complexes \u2014 each with at least five separate units \u2014 on a small, privately owned, empty lot within the city. <\/p>\n Small-scale, multiunit housing has been a mainstay of L.A.-area architecture for more than a century, including \u201cdingbat\u201d apartment buildings like this one in Inglewood.<\/p>\n (Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n The program will provide some financial and regulatory support, including a low-interest loan to fund each project from community development group Genesis L.A.<\/a> The teams are all required to list the homes for sale, with a percentage reserved below market rate for low- or middle-income buyers. The effort is also receiving support from private-public alliance group LA4LA<\/a>, the city of L.A. and BMO bank<\/a>.<\/p>\n The goal is to model \u2014 both to developers and potential buyers \u2014 how these lots can provide the space to bring the now-defunct starter home<\/a> into the 21st century. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll demonstrate that it is feasible at lower entry prices,\u201d Cuff said. \u201cThis system both creates more potential housing units and provides a type of flexibility in the housing stock that\u2019s incredibly attractive,\u201d such as access to outdoor space, a built-in community and some individuality. <\/p>\n This cityLAB initiative started last year with looking at city-owned, small, empty lots<\/a>, with a similar mission of building multiunit starter homes. That effort is ongoing, Cuff said, but it\u2019s taken longer than expected to get off the ground, which prompted the team to shift attention to privately owned lots.<\/p>\n A small, empty lot in Los Angeles that housing experts would like to see transformed into mid-density housing that can be sold as a new generation of starter homes.<\/p>\n (Robert Gauthier \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Christian Stayner, founder and principal at Stayner Architects, is helping lead one of the three teams selected for the initial pilot projects. <\/p>\n For years, Stayner and his colleagues have thought about developing an almost 6,000-square-foot lot they own on L.A.\u2019s Eastside that\u2019s currently used for storage. But the large financial risk, on top of regulatory hurdles, kept them from making the jump.<\/p>\n Now, with support from cityLAB and Genesis L.A., and with legislative changes<\/a> that eased the construction of such mid-density projects<\/a>, he feels they finally have the right footing \u2014 and space creatively \u2014 to move ahead. <\/p>\n He hopes it could inspire other similar projects.<\/p>\n Their design, if all goes according to plan, will include one building with six separate units, all individually owned. <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786098508_223_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786098510_918_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786098511_23_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786098512_489_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786098513_769_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n