LA City Council votes to buy back Chinatown apartment building amid rent dispute

The Los Angeles City Council voted Friday to try and buy a housing development in Chinatown amid rent increases that tenants have been fighting against. 

Tenants in the building have been looking to the city for help amid rent increases they said they cannot afford. 

RELATED: Residents of Chinatown apartment complex want city to buy the building amid rent dispute

Hillside Villa in Chinatown is one of thousands of buildings in LA constructed with decades old loans from the city. The agreement was that if developers took money from the city, they had to allow for affordable housing units. 

However, many of these agreements are now running out and landlords are raising their rents. 

"Thirty years ago, we built about 10,000 units of affordable housing. These covenants are running out in five to 10 years, and if we don't cover these next 10,000 units, then we are not going to make any progress," said Gil Cedillo, who represents the district that the apartment complex is in. 

The landlord of the Chinatown apartment complex has said in the past that he's not interested in selling the building.

However, the council voted today to use eminent domain and begin the process of buying the building from the developer.