Apartments Given a Reprieve

The Chase Knolls Garden Apartments in Sherman Oaks received at least a temporary reprieve from demolition Wednesday when the Los Angeles City Council agreed to initiate the process for declaring it a city historic cultural monument.

Despite opposition from the owner, who said it appeared to be an abuse of the city’s historic-preservation law, the council asked Wednesday that the city Cultural Heritage Commission consider including the 260-apartment complex on the city’s list of historic cultural monuments.

“This is an absolutely incredible relief,” said Sandy Roberts, a resident who had received an eviction notice. “This gives us some breathing room.”

By acting to initiate the process for designating the apartment complex as a monument, the council effectively blocks demolition of the buildings until a decision is made by the commission.

Ken Bernstein of the Los Angeles Conservancy said the process will take about 60 days.

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Councilman Mike Feuer sought the designation after Legacy Partners purchased the Riverside Drive property in January and announced plans to demolish the complex and build luxury apartments, which would force the eviction of dozens of residents.

Feuer said Wednesday’s council vote simply begins a process that allows more debate on the historic and cultural value of the circa-1949 complex.

He cited an analysis released Wednesday by the Los Angeles Conservancy that concluded that the buildings are “significant in the architectural history of the city as an exceptional example of a Modern garden apartment complex.”

The analysis said the buildings on Riverside Drive are a product of the Garden City movement and Modern movement.

“It is true Chase Knolls is not an opulent movie palace, an opulent cathedral, a craftsman home,” Ken Bernstein, director of preservation for the conservancy, told the council. “But Los Angeles is quickly learning to appreciate its mid-century architecture, its modern architecture. This is an exceptional place.”

Nonsense, responded Ben Reznik, an attorney for the owner. There is no merit to the argument that the dozen apartment buildings are culturally or historically significant, he told the council.

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“There is no evidence before you to warrant this as a historical monument,” Reznik said. “We are concerned that this would be actually potentially an abuse of the process, inasmuch as this is a project that has been slated for demolition and relocation of tenants.”

Councilman Nate Holden conceded that he supported Wednesday’s action more because it protects a nice place for people to live than any conviction that the buildings are historically significant.

Legacy has offered tenants of the building relocation assistance, including up to $15,000 for senior citizens, and many of the tenants have agreed to move, Reznik said.

He also said the new project would include 40 units of affordable apartments for seniors.

“The historical designation comes to you on the eve of trying to demolish a building and create a new project, so the timing is very suspect,” Reznik added.

But Feuer said it is only because the buildings are threatened by the bulldozer that they need protection.

“The fact is until his client moved forward with the proposal to demolish this very unique 260-unit sprawling structure, there was no threat to this site,” Feuer said. “There is a threat to it now, and the [historic] designation, given the pall that [the demolition] threat casts over that set of buildings, is very appropriate to consider right now.”

Preservationists noted that even if the designation is approved, the building could still be demolished--but only after an evaluation that could last a year.

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A half-dozen tenants of the building urged the council to act to begin the preservation process.

Ellen Michiel, who represents the tenants, told the council that financial assistance is available for historic monuments to help restore and improve them.

“There is a very real probability that this project can be preserved by Legacy or by another developer,” Michiel said.

Wednesday’s reprieve is temporary, and Reznik said he is confident the Cultural Heritage Commission will decide not to designate the complex as a historic or cultural monument.

“It is really frightening, at least to me, to see that a building built two years before I was born is now considered a historical monument,” Reznik said.