Tiao Properties Advancing With Boyle Heights Housing

And just like that, a group of Boyle Heights residents could become homeless thanks to a former “Sex and the City” background actor.

On Feb. 5, 85-year-old Columba Torralba and her family are set to be evicted from their apartment on Cesar E. Chavez Avenue after a years-long battle between the tenants and property owner Will Tiao, a former actor and director who left the entertainment industry for real estate and founded Tiao Properties in 2012, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Tiao, once a background actor on “Sex and the City,” is planning to demolish the building containing three rent-controlled units to build a six-story residential building with 50 units above ground-floor retail space.

Tiao bought the property near the intersection of Cesar Chavez Avenue and Chicago Street in 2020 for $2.1 million. The landlord and his company, Tiao Properties, first applied to redevelop the lots the following year, earning city approvals in August 2023. The Los Angeles Department of City Planning gave the project a thumbs-up and said it believes the development will contribute “to the revitalization of Cesar Chavez Avenue” by inviting more foot traffic and business, according to the Times.

The property owner argued that the development would help Los Angeles meet its housing production goals during a housing crisis. Five of the planned 50 units are reserved for extremely-low-income households, providing more affordable housing than the current three units on the property.

Viva Padilla, who ran a bookstore called Re/Arte Centro Librario on the ground floor of one of Tiao’s buildings on Cesar Chavez Avenue, filed an appeal of the city’s decision to allow the development to continue. The appeal was considered by the East Los Angeles Area Planning Commission in early 2024. The Planning Department warned the commission that approving the appeal could open the city up to legal liability because Tiao’s proposal did comply with the law.

The commission approved the appeal, and Tiao filed a lawsuit against the city in June 2024, saying the commissioners committed a “blatant and knowing” violation of the state’s Housing Accountability Act. In early 2025, a judge ruled that the East Los Angeles Area Planning Commission acted in bad faith in the case and directed the city to approve Tiao’s project again. The city settled the case with Tiao for more than $170,000.

Shortly thereafter, the Torralba family received their first notice to vacate their apartment. They got another letter in December informing them Tiao will provide $25,700 in relocation assistance but would forfeit that money and be subject to “immediate eviction” if they aren’t out by Feb. 5.

Tiao’s attorney, Cynthia Juno, told the Times the $25,700 was the maximum Tiao Properties could give the Garcia family in relocation assistance. “We understand why residents are concerned about displacement and rising costs in Boyle Heights,” Juno said. “These are real pressures across Los Angeles and especially in neighborhoods with deep cultural roots.”

— Chris Malone Méndez