Tenants Evicted From Hill Complex
The view has always been spectacular: a sweeping vista of downtown and the Pacific shoreline.
But with their apartment buildings crumbling, tenants of the Harborview complex perched above Ventura began to wonder if the price for that view was too high.
Now they have no choice. Handed eviction notices this month, residents are clearing out to make room for a multimillion-dollar renovation project.
The owner of the quake-damaged complex, hoping to capitalize on a downtown redevelopment effort, has given renters in two of the four hillside apartment buildings until Feb. 9 to move. Served eviction notices last week, many have already cleared out or are hustling to find new apartments.
“It’s pretty devastating,” said Tony Espinosa, who regrets losing the ocean view.
Numerous safety concerns have been raised about the 90-unit complex, including tilting balconies, shifting soil and shaky foundations.
The owner of the building, James W. Boyd, says the 1994 Northridge earthquake caused much of the damage. After lengthy negotiations with insurance companies, Boyd said Friday he will pump several million dollars into repairs to eliminate possible safety hazards.
Another strong incentive to overhaul the building, Boyd said, is Ventura’s effort to improve downtown. The rejuvenation campaign is just taking hold, with a parking garage nearing completion and a theater under construction on Main Street.
Boyd said displaced renters have the option of returning to their apartments after the scheduled six-month repair project.
But renters, some of whom now pay more than $1,000 a month, will face significant rent increases if they come back, he said.
“This is right next to the redevelopment area, right close to downtown,” the property owner said. “And it’s going to be a source of pride. It should be the jewel of Ventura County when we’re finished.”
The evictions were necessary, Boyd said, because the apartment buildings will be unsafe during renovation--entire balconies will be replaced. After repairs at buildings A and C, which are closest to the ocean, tenants in buildings B and D will be evicted, he said.
A Harborview tenant for five years, Espinosa said he was lucky to find another apartment off Victoria Avenue for $800 a month, less than the $890 he now pays. And though his apartment is riddled with cracks and termite damage, Espinosa says the gorgeous view makes everything worthwhile.
The 38-year-old food salesman says he will move back--provided the rents aren’t too steep.
“There’s no doubt, they’re going to cash in on the views,” he said. “And I can’t blame them. It’s prime property. If I were them, I’d bulldoze the whole place and rebuild.”
Repairs at Harborview are long overdue, said Ventura building inspector Bob Prodoehl. In recent months, he said, the city has ordered the owner to clear out about 12 apartments because floors lack steel beams.
“If somebody loaded the floor down real heavy, it could collapse,” he said.
Officials have also ordered tenants not to go out on their wobbly balconies. They also told the owner to strengthen foundations at two buildings.
Prodoehl said many of the problems at the 35-year-old building have been there from the start.
“It’s a building with very poor maintenance, with some initial construction problems,” he said. “It’s a great site, there’s no doubt about that. It’s just too bad it wasn’t the best designed.”
Meanwhile, former tenant Gloria Goldman said she is glad repairs are being made. Goldman, who has complained that tenants at Harborview are living in grave danger, moved to an apartment “on firmer ground” near Ventura College last year.
Goldman lived at Harborview twice, briefly during the 1980s and again a decade later.
“I moved out because it was raining in my bedroom,” Goldman said of her first stay at Harborview.
She was lured back because of the irresistible view. But she said the second stay convinced her that the soil underneath the apartment complex is unstable.
“I’d never go back,” Goldman said. “I don’t trust the hillside.”
