HGTV's Tarek El Moussa denies that he's evicting tenants to build a new apartment building

• Tarek El Moussa addressed criticism over his plan to redevelop a property into a 138-unit apartment building.
• The property's current tenants say they're being evicted so El Moussa can pursue the project.

Tarek El Moussa denied that he and his partners were evicting tenants from their rent-stabilized apartments so they can be redeveloped into a residential building.

Tarek acknowledged criticisms directed at his project, NoHo 138, in a statement shared on Instagram on Friday. According to the project's website, NoHo 138 will be created through Tarek and wife Heather Rae El Moussa's respective real estate investing companies. Pyramid Development Group and WJK Development Co. will also help develop the project.

"Even though I am being dragged for false accusations and misconceptions, my intentions are to do good, and I hope that we can focus on the positive and the facts," Tarek wrote. "Notices to the tenants were served by the current owner, not by me or the partners of NoHo 138. I am not evicting anyone. We did not issue the Ellis Act relocation documents."

The Ellis Act refers to California law that allows landlords "with a legal way to 'go out of business' short of selling the property to another landlord,'" according to the City of West Hollywood's website. Ellis Act evictions offer compensation for affected tenants between $7,000 and $25,000.

Tarek continued that NoHo 138's partners are attempting to contact the remaining tenants to facilitate "an amicable discussion regarding final move out agreements."

"The partners of Noho 138 have also reached out to the attorney representing the Hartsook tenants to request assistance in facilitating a meeting between both parties," Tarek wrote. "Our intentions are to work with the tenants to offer a great opportunity for them while helping to improve the neighborhood."

The statement added NoHo 138 would include 14 low-income rental units and other efforts to acknowledge the local community.

"In addition, this project will provide hundreds of new jobs through the construction process, provide a boost to city tax revenue which will be allocated for homeless programs and other socially impactful programs as promoted by the current city administration, create 131 new parking spaces to help reduce the impact of street parking, provide tenants an opportunity to come back and live in a newly constructed apartment, as well as create a beautiful new community to attract a diverse base of residents," he wrote.

Representatives for NoHo 138 did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

In May, Tarek shared a YouTube video detailing the project and inviting viewers to invest in NHO 138. He said his team purchased multiple homes in the area to build the complex on Hartsook Street. Tenants living in the area began calling out Tarek in July on a tenant-run Instagram account, which called his actions "predatory" in one post.

Community members also blasted the evictions in interviews with local outlets like The Los Angeles Times and KCAL. They did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

"It was really triggering and traumatic and totally ignoring the fact that people still lived here," a tenant, Clare Letmon, told KCAL.

The Times reported that the El Moussas told investors in a presentation that they could sell NoHo 138 for $26 million more than it costs to acquire property and build the development.

"Pay us to leave," Letmon told The Times. "But pay us an amount of money that's dignified and recognizes the profit they're set to make off of everything that was done to us."