West LA Times

UCLA’s cityLAB, the City of Los Angeles, and LA4LA have introduced a new initiative titled “Small Lots, Big Impacts.” This program invites proposals for innovative housing designs on small, city-owned lots. The goal is to create affordable starter homes for first-time buyers in Los Angeles.

Traditionally seen as unsuitable for housing, these small lots are now being reimagined by architects and builders. Competition winners will proceed to a second phase this summer, working with development teams to turn their designs into prototypes.

“We need to see what’s possible for L.A.’s near future,” said Dana Cuff, director of cityLAB at UCLA. “By bringing together the best architects, developers and builders, we can invent a new generation of ‘SoCal starter homes’ — compact, sharing land once occupied by a single house (and) giving dignity and joy to their residents while respecting Mother Nature.”

The initiative addresses the urgent need for affordable housing in Los Angeles. Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez highlighted the potential of underused land for creating resilient homes accessible to working Angelenos. Tom De Simone, CEO of Genesis L.A., mentioned how this initiative could streamline housing developments by supporting smaller developers and reducing regulatory hurdles.

Architects and builders are invited to submit their proposals by May 4. Detailed information about the competition is available at smalllots.citylab.ucla.edu. Registrations of intent must be submitted by April 7. Both student and professional applicants will be judged by a jury panel. Student submissions can win monetary prizes: $1,500 for first place, $1,000 for second place, and $500 for third place. Professional winners will not receive cash prizes but will have opportunities to join or form development teams in the second phase with access to expert consultants.

“Small Lots, Big Impacts” is supported by various entities including L.A.'s Mayor Karen Bass's office, Housing Department, City Council alongside LA4LA and UCLA’s cityLAB.

Dana Cuff is among several UCLA faculty members involved in an independent commission tasked with developing policy recommendations post-2025 wildfires recovery in Los Angeles. Led by Megan Mullin from the Luskin Center for Innovation along with Julia Stein from UCLA School of Law's Emmett Institute on Climate Change and Alex Hall from Sustainable L.A., they aim to provide research-informed insights alongside civic leaders chaired by Matt Peterson from Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator.