PLACENTIA : Building’s Reputation Is Fixed Up

When Jose Zepeda bought the Kraemer Building in July, 1988, it was a hodgepodge of cramped, overcrowded rooms in violation of several city codes.

Two months earlier the city had declared the building, in the heart of Placentia’s old town district, a public nuisance and ordered the previous owner to make the necessary repairs.

Today, the building sports a new peach, cream and green exterior, and the second floor has been converted to nine apartments. Where more than 100 people had been crammed into tiny rooms, now live families of three or four people.

Electrical and plumbing code violations have been fixed and the building seismically upgraded. And a retail space that was once vacant and a popular spot for prostitutes and drug dealers now houses a grocery store.

In recognition of these improvements, the City Council last week unanimously approved removing the public nuisance declaration.

The move is basically technical and will have little effect on Zepeda or his tenants. But it does serve as a reminder of how much Zepeda has done to improve the appearance of the old town area, known as Placita Santa Fe.

“When I bought the place, it was a complete disaster,” Zepeda said. “There were about 18 rooms, with no kitchens, being rented to about 100 people.”

Two bathrooms served the whole building, which Zepeda said was infested with every pest imaginable.

Police were called out to the building several times a night to deal with prostitution and drug violations, Zepeda said.

A developer specializing in restorations, Zepeda said his love of old buildings helped him see past the seedy condition of the Kraemer Building, built in the 1920s.

“There is just something about (old buildings) that appeals to me,” he said.

About two years ago, Zepeda began renovation on another Placita Santa Fe building, the Santa Fe Hotel. A more ambitious project, the Santa Fe Hotel is expected to open this fall with 18 apartments and seven retail spaces.

Five of those spaces are already leased to a flower shop, travel agency, music store, accounting office and Western clothing store. Finding tenants for the space was surprisingly easy, Zepeda said, considering the general economic climate in the county.

“(Merchants) like it here because they know people walk around on weekends, and crime is down here.”

Although he lives in Anaheim Hills, Zepeda said he feels strong ties to Placentia, where his children attend a Catholic school. He has been active in efforts to make Placita Santa Fe more attractive to families and visitors, including forbidding the sale of alcohol at the grocery store in his building.

Zepeda spent $870,000 to buy and renovate the Kraemer Building, with $160,000 coming from a commercial rehabilitation loan from the city.

The nine apartments, which are each 570 square feet and rent for $500 a month, house about 27 people.

The return on investment has been small, Zepeda said, but that isn’t the reason he purchased the building. He says his motive isn’t profit and points to his policy of not requiring tenants to pay security deposits and last month’s rent, a common practice with other landlords.

“I want to return something back to the community,” Zepeda said. “I believe it is up to us to change the state of living here.”