Firm Angers Tenants by Slashing Relocation Payments

In a move that has infuriated residents, the developers who want to demolish the Chase Knolls Apartments in Sherman Oaks have cut relocation payments by as much as $10,000.

In a letter, Legacy Partners told residents that it could not afford the “enhanced” relocation payments it originally offered. Instead, the company intends to spend the money to bankroll its fight to stop the city from declaring the complex a historic monument. Residents have been pushing for the designation to save the complex.

Legacy Partners had planned to pay $15,000 to senior citizens and $10,000 to family households and residents with disabilities, significantly more than the $5,000 required by city housing laws. Now, the company plans to pay the minimum.

Unhappy residents called it another ploy to intimidate residents into moving.

“The strategy is to keep the tenants unsure of their fate, to keep them afraid of what is going to happen next,” said Sandy Roberts, a resident trying to save the complex.

Chase Knolls has been in turmoil since March 31, when Legacy announced that residents would have to move by June 30 because the building is to be demolished. Legacy plans to replace the 260-unit garden complex with a 402-unit luxury apartment building, including 40 units of affordable housing for seniors. Monthly rent at Chase Knolls ranges from $400, for seniors who have lived in their apartments for decades, to $1,500. The new units would be priced from $750 to $2,200.

Dennis Cavallari, a Legacy Partners senior vice president, said the firm pulled the enhanced relocation benefits after the Los Angeles City Council asked the Cultural Heritage Commission to consider including the complex on the city’s list of historical monuments.

“Now we have to put some money into a legal battle,” Cavallari said.

The relocation letter was sent April 24. Residents who had already agreed to move will get the enhanced relocation payments, but those who had planned to stay will get only the minimum required by city ordinance. Since the letter arrived, residents said, they have heard conflicting stories about how much they are eligible to receive.

Adding to the confusion, Cavallari said Friday that Legacy is reconsidering its decision to slash the payouts and probably will end up distributing them as planned. He doubts there will be a follow-up letter, he said, and expects the company to deal with tenants on a “case-by-case basis.”

Roberts said Cavallari is trying to confuse residents more.

“They want people to think they should take the money now instead of staying and trying to fight,” Roberts said.

The 13-acre complex is on Huston Street between Sunnyslope and Fulton avenues. City officials are studying whether the 1949 structure is a significant example of a garden-style apartment. A decision on whether Chase Knolls is a historical monument is expected within two months.

Bob Scott, a member of the Los Angeles Planning Commission, said he thinks it is inappropriate to use the historic designation process to block demolition.

“There are lots of late ‘40s and early ‘50s architecture in the Valley. I’m not sure every piece of property is entitled to historical protection,” Scott said. “It’s the heavy hand of over-regulation.”

Cavallari pointed out that the $15,000 payment was, by far, the highest amount ever offered by a landlord and $10,000 higher than what the law requires.

Even so, many seniors are resolved to stay at Chase Knolls.

Sam Gerstel, 81, has little interest in whether Legacy pays him $15,000 or $5,000.

“I’m not interested in all that,” said Gerstel, who likes to sit on his front porch and smoke cigars. “I just want to be left alone and stay.”

Louise Asay, 84, is one of the residents who has accepted the buyout. She arrived in 1994, after the Northridge earthquake made her previous apartment unlivable.

Her daughter, Laura Velas, said she hopes Chase Knolls can be saved, but she and her mother were not in a position to join the fight.