LAX buys out six apartment buildings for $20.5 million

LAX buys out six apartment buildings for $20.5 million The Los Angeles International Airport governing board agreed Monday to purchase six apartment buildings on the east side of the airport and help to relocate the residents.
   The purchase, worth $20.5 million, falls under the auspices of LAX’s Voluntary Residential Acquisition and Relocation Program, which allows homeowners impacted by airport noise to sell their property to the city agency that operates LAX. The commission approved the program in July 2000.
   For agreeing to move, residents are entitled to city-provided relocation services. The purchases are in lieu of the city paying for soundproofing the buildings.
   The program originally identified nearly 300 houses and more than 275 apartment buildings near the airport that were targeted for purchase. The program is about 80 percent complete, with 263 houses and 189 apartment buildings already purchased.
   LAX, surrounded on three sides by residential areas, serves more than 60 million passengers a year and is one the nation's busiest passenger and air cargo centers.