More Than 100 to Be Evicted in Brentwood

Residents of half a city block are being evicted in Brentwood, of all places.

To make way for one of the largest new developments on the Westside, more than 100 tenants are being ousted from nine aging apartment buildings on Kiowa Avenue.

“The people are not going to be homeless, but most of them feel the degradation of being told to leave,” said Alice Shadell, one of the tenants. “My feeling is that we’re making way for the millionaires by getting rid of the cockroaches.”

Some of the evictees are in their 70s or older, and have lived on the block since the apartment houses were built 25 years ago.

“Looking for an apartment is difficult after 20 years, and there’s a lot of emotional stress and anxiety,” said tenant Lillian Presler. “I’m 75 and some are older. They’re having a tough time making the adjustment.”

Not All Are Upset

Not all the residents were upset, however, by the yellow eviction notices that appeared on their doors in the 11600 Block of Kiowa Avenue a week ago, giving them two months to leave.

The city’s rent-control law says that disabled tenants, those 62 and older and the parents of minor children are entitled to relocation payments of $5,000, while the others will get $2,000.

In addition, Bancorp Development, which assembled the row of 20- to 25-year-old buildings over the last 14 months, promised an extra $1,000 for tenants who leave within a month.

The bonus will help Bancorp avoid having to take legal action against stubborn or slow-moving tenants, said Carl Shaff II, a landlord-tenant attorney.

“It makes life easier for them, but the bad news is that these tenants probably will have to move,” he said.

“Personally, I’m going to take the money and run,” said Alan Nirenberg, a 27-year-old bank officer.

“It’s great,” said Aloysius A. Kasprzyk, a resident for 25 years who stands to get the $5,000 senior citizen allowance. “We had been planning on moving to Oxnard. I could care less what’s coming in here.”

What’s to come has not yet been decided, a spokesman for Bancorp said.

But he said that the zoning of the street just off San Vicente Boulevard could allow for the construction of nearly 200 units on land now occupied by just over 100 apartments.

Within His Rights

A number of tenants have contacted Councilman Marvin Braude’s office about the evictions, but the new owner seems to be within his rights, said Glenn Barr, a member of Braude’s staff.

“We do have to deal with the reality that buildings eventually have to be either replaced or thoroughly rehabilitated, and in either case the tenants generally come out on the shorter end of the situation,” he said.

“The fact that they’re getting a certain amount of lead time and certain amount of money may be helpful, but it’s not going to replace the fact that they’re going to have to relocate. There are seniors involved and that makes it all the more heart-rending a situation.”

Even with the moving allowances, many of the displaced Kiowa residents said they will have to move to less prestigious neighborhoods and pay more for their new apartments.

One 80-year-old woman said she was going to a retirement home. “My children are far away, my husband is gone. They say they’re compensating the older people, but when I see it I’ll know for sure,” she said. “Don’t mention any names. It’s the first time in my life I ever had a thing like this happen.”

Some of the tenants had been living on Kiowa Avenue for decades and were paying no more than $400 for their apartments.

Almost Double the Rent

“I found a place at almost double the rent,” said one tenant, a 70-year-old woman who now walks to her job at a travel agency. She will have to drive from her new apartment.

“I expected to pay more but not almost double,” she said. “To tear down a whole block is criminal. And you can imagine what it will be like when people move out. Nobody’s going to be able to get a moving van in here.”

Brentwood real estate specialists say there is a glut of high-rent apartments in the neighborhood now, but that Bancorp’s decision to build condominiums or apartments that can later be converted to condos makes sense nonetheless.

“That’s because houses are very expensive,” said Franklin Farinas, a broker at the Brentwood office of the Jon Douglas Co. “In Brentwood you’re looking at the typical small house being around $600,000, so it . . . eliminates a lot of buyers. They would spend on these (condos) around $400,000 to be on this end of town. This is a high-demand area.”