Historic Status Recommended for Sherman Oaks Apartments

Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Feuer asked the Cultural Heritage Commission on Wednesday to consider seeking historic status for Chase Knolls Garden apartments, which could prevent the complex from being razed for luxury homes.

Feuer believes the apartments, built in the late 1940s, may have historic value because they represent a good example of garden apartments built after World War II, said Jane Blumenfeld, Feuer’s chief of staff. The apartments provided an affordable alternative to single-family homes for a growing postwar population, she said.

Kenneth Bernstein, director of preservation issues at the nonprofit conservancy, said the Chase Knolls apartments are significant in terms of the San Fernando Valley’s development.

“[Chase Knolls] is important in its overall attractive site plan. It’s one of the best multifamily complexes of its era in Los Angeles,” he said.

Developer Legacy Partners of San Francisco purchased the property at 13401 Riverside Drive in January and planned to demolish it and build new luxury apartments on the site.

If the Cultural Heritage Commission recommends designating the 260-unit apartment complex as a historic-cultural monument and the City Council approves the recommendation, Legacy’s plans will have to be reviewed by the cultural commission, Bernstein said.

Legacy would also have to do an environmental impact report that would analyze alternatives to demolition, Bernstein said.

Richard Lichtenstein, a spokesman for Legacy, said the company has hired its own consultant to analyze the apartments’ historic value. Legacy will also look at other options to demolition, Lichtenstein said.

Although Legacy’s plans have been delayed, Lichtenstein said, under any scenario residents would have to leave their units while they undergo needed interior repairs. Eviction plans have also been delayed, he said.

Resident Sandy Roberts welcomed Feuer’s action.

“This will really help Legacy see [Chase Knolls] is not just a bunch of people who don’t feel like getting up and moving, that it’s really an important place. It’s a community, not just a bunch of buildings,” Roberts said.

Two weeks ago angry residents, many of them senior citizens, organized to discuss ways to stop the demolition after receiving letters stating they had to leave.

Legacy cannot demolish the apartments or remove trees from the seven-acre property while the Cultural Heritage Commission considers the issue, which could take several months, Blumenfeld said.

In another preservation issue, cultural heritage commissioners declined Wednesday to consider designating the Woodland Hills Library as an historic-cultural monument.

Los Angeles Public Library officials decided to tear down the Valley library and replace it with one twice its size after years of complaints the facility is too small and lacks sufficient parking. Sherman Oaks resident Mary-Margaret Stratton had nominated the 1962 library on Ventura Boulevard for historic status in an effort to save it.

Stratton, who belongs to a group opposed to the demolition, said opponents would consider nominating the library for historic state status. “It’s not over,” said Stratton.

During the same meeting, following a recommendation by library officials, commissioners agreed to consider designating the similarly designed 1960 Canoga Park library for historic status. Both libraries were designed by the firm Bowerman and Hobson. The City Council has final say on granting a historic status to the library.

A new Canoga Park branch is scheduled to be built on Sherman Way, while the older structure will be used for other city services. Funds from the $178.3-million Proposition DD bond approved by voters in 1998 will pay for construction of both new libraries.