VAN NUYS : Action Group Head Wants Motel Razed

A community leader says the Chateau Motel--former $13-a-night headquarters for prostitutes and the site of several killings--should be bulldozed.

But the nonprofit organization that took over the building’s lease five months ago says all it needs is more time--and money--to turn the crumbling eyesore into a job-training center for the disabled.

Community members and leaders of the Asian Pacific Community Services, a Westminster-based agency, met Monday at the motel to try to work out their differences.

“It’s slow; it’s as simple as that,” said Dennis Catron, president of Asian Pacific’s board of directors.

Asian Pacific participated in a successful community cleanup of the motel in October. At that time, Alan Woo, executive director, said the motel would be renovated and the training center would be running within two to three months.

Plans call for the 46-unit motel on Sepulveda Boulevard, south of Vanowen Street, to be transformed into apartments for physically disabled people, who would receive job training there in such areas as building management, computers and housekeeping.

But Catron said Monday that his organization underestimated the extent of the building’s problems--the entire plumbing and piping system must be replaced--and the cost of repairs. Several city grants that the organization applied for have not been approved, he added.

The owners of the motel, listed in city records as Jin Chang Yang and Guey Dan Hwu, leased the property to Asian Pacific for a two-year period after the city revoked their permit to operate the motel in March. The city determined the motel was a public nuisance, citing a long list of crimes and arrests attributed to the motel and its clientele.

But since taking over under conditional terms, Asian Pacific has not moved fast enough to renovate the building, said Mary Lou Holte, founder of the Town Keepers Action Group. “The building is still a mess--nothing has changed,” she said.

Holte said the motel should be bulldozed.

Holte and other community leaders became upset recently when a pay phone was installed in front of the motel--a violation of strict city-imposed conditions allowing the motel to continue operating. Pay phones are sometimes used by drug traffickers and prostitutes to set up deals.

Though the phone has been removed, Holte said the incident irritated community members and demonstrated that Asian Pacific may not be capable of achieving its goal of overhauling the motel.

The city hopes Asian Pacific and community members can reach a compromise.

“The situation at the motel is better now than it was,” said Judith Hirshberg, an assistant to Los Angeles Councilman Marvin Braude, who initiated the city’s investigation of the motel.

“We don’t have prostitutes living in the burned out section any more, for instance. . . . But I know the community is still distressed. There is a problem with funding. But this is supposed to be a public-private venture to rehabilitate the building and provide training for jobs. I hope people can be patient.”