Chase Knolls Residents Meet to Fight Demolition of 53-Year-Old Apartments
About 150 residents and neighbors of the Chase Knolls Garden apartments met Wednesday night to discuss ways to block the demolition of their modest homes for new luxury units.
The 300 residents of the 13-acre complex of bungalow-like apartments have been ordered to move by June 30 to make way for a gated community of luxury apartments by Legacy Partners of San Francisco.
“It’s not concrete and steel--it’s beautiful,” said Loren Saltzman, who has lived at Chase Knolls with his wife, Vera, for 34 years. “It was the only place we found that we could afford, and that we liked,” he said.
Residents meeting at Notre Dame High School discussed a variety of strategies, including seeking free legal counsel to explore their options.
Legacy plans to demolish the 260 apartments at 13401 Riverside Drive in the fall, said senior vice president Dennis Cavallari. Construction of the 362 luxury units will take about 18 months, he said.
Sandy Roberts said she and her Chase Knolls neighbors comprise a close-knit community. About 100 of the residents are elderly and are taking the news hard, she said.
“They’re having anxiety attacks, they’re getting depressed, they’re not eating. It’s pitiful,” she said.
Roberts said units now rent for $300 to $400 monthly. Cavallari said rent in the new apartments will range from $750 to $2,200 monthly.
Although tenants recently organized to fight the demolition, Cavallari said they are a minority.
“A core of people are trying to cause some hysteria out there. If they could sit and meet with the relocation firm they would realize [the stipend offer] is rather benevolent and something they could take advantage of,” Cavallari said. “They made a choice to live in rental housing. This is still a capitalist society and landowners have rights.”
He said the company is providing residents with generous relocation stipends: $15,000 for seniors, $10,000 for families with children and $2,000 for single tenants.
But Keith Hammer, 73, said the money would run out quickly because of the difficulty of finding similar housing at comparable rent.
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Others said the stipends, which are higher than what the city of Los Angeles requires, can’t make up for the loss of their homes.
“It’s not an issue of money. This is where we live--with a capital L”--said Roberts, 51. “[Legacy] is not going to replace what we’re losing. They have to take a look at what creates neighborhood, what creates community. Is it worth it to destroy that?”
Cavallari said the new development will help alleviate the city’s housing shortage by providing more modern apartments with sufficient parking, and access for the disabled.
Yet the existing property, built in 1947, has many admirers.
“It is clearly a very special place--one of the few remaining early garden apartment complexes in the San Fernando Valley,” said Kenneth Bernstein, director of preservation issues at the nonprofit Los Angeles Conservancy. “It’s apparent residents care deeply about this place and really have made it their own.”
Bernstein added that the conservancy has not taken a formal position on the issue.
Councilman Mike Feuer, whose district includes the apartments, said he is studying the issue.
“I’m trying to get a handle on whether or not the city can exercise any meaningful discretion in the demolition process,” Feuer said. “This is not an apartment of people who are there three months and leave. Their lives are here. It’s a precious resource for people whose alternatives are limited in affordable housing.”
Feuer said he is also studying tax incentives and financial inducements to offer Legacy so it won’t demolish Chase Knolls.
Cavallari said the company will meet with residents within the next 10 days to discuss plans for the new development.
