PLACENTIA : Judge to Rule on City Denial of Conversion

A judge is expected to decide Wednesday whether city officials improperly denied Iraj Mahdavi’s plan to convert a 22-unit apartment complex into condominiums.

In September, Orange County Superior Court Judge James L. Smith ordered the city to reconsider its rejection of the conversion, saying the city’s position that the plan would reduce the stock of affordable housing was insufficient to deny the project.

City Council members again denied the request in October, this time saying the market for condominiums had dried up. “If it were my kids, I’d tell them to buy a single-family house,” Councilman Michael L. Maertzweiler said at that time.

Some council members also questioned Mahdavi’s claim that several of his current tenants in the complex are interested in buying their units.

“We haven’t heard one word on how they will qualify” for mortgage loans, Councilman Norman Z. Eckenrode said. “I don’t feel all of them will qualify.”

Mahdavi said he hopes to sell the two- and three-bedroom units at The Gables for $120,000 to $135,000. He has offered purchase assistance to those tenants who want to buy and relocation assistance to tenants who leave.

The judge must now decide whether the city’s reasons for rejecting the project are adequate. The plan meets city codes for condominium conversion and was approved twice by the city’s Planning Commission.