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There is a new mayor in town.
After a very close race, Nithya Raman will succeed incumbent Karen Bass as the next mayor of Los Angeles. Raman captured 52.1% of the vote to Bass's 47.9%.
Bass conceded late Thursday morning.
"While this is not the outcome we hoped for, the people of Los Angeles have spoken," Bass wrote in a concession note posted to X late Thursday morning.
Commercial real estate sources told Bisnow earlier this year that they wanted to see a new mayor who could make investors confident in LA again. Some said they were looking for a mayor who would help developers build more, faster.
While Raman had the support of many pro-housing groups, such as Abundant Housing LA, she also very strongly supports tenant protections.
"She’s pro-development and tough on landlords," multifamily developer Paul Schon wrote on LinkedIn. "She backs SB 79, faster permitting, and a ULA exemption for new apartments. She also pushed citywide just-cause eviction and a tighter RSO. So here’s the question: can LA get more housing built while pushing harder on the people who own it?"
Raman has said she will use her first 100 days in office to, among other things, "fast-track construction" and put a shot clock on housing permits to speed up construction and increase affordability, as well as focus on quickly addressing quality-of-life issues like potholed and dirty streets and broken street lights.
She also said while campaigning that she would allow audits of spending on homelessness and pledged to cut homelessness in half by the 2028 Olympic Games, the Los Angeles Times reported.
In a Thursday post on Instagram, Raman spoke directly to those Angelenos who didn't cast a vote for her.
"I am going to City Hall to work every single day to earn your trust and to earn your trust in this city again," Raman said.
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