Eviction of Seniors for Condominium Project Highlights "Crisis," Affordable Housing Advocates Say

By Jorge Casuso

The escalating war to preserve affordable housing will likely come to a head Wednesday night when the Planning Commission votes on whether to allow the demolition of a rent-controlled retirement hotel to pave the way for luxury condominiums.

The battle lines at 401 Montana Avenue are starkly drawn. On one side is the developer - Wilshire Pacific Equities -- who has adhered to all the city codes in an effort to construct nine condominium units. On the other are 17 elderly residents who stand to lose their affordable homes four blocks from the beach.

Judging by zoning standards - setbacks, heights, density - the proposed three-story Mediterranean-style building easily complies. The building includes fewer units than allowed and more open space and greater setbacks than required.

"The proposed condominium project, as conditioned, complies with all applicable provisions of the Zoning Ordinance and the General Plan," planning staff wrote in a report that recommends that the commission approve the project. "The proposed design and use is compatible with the existing development in the surrounding area."

But the developer's compliance with zoning codes has failed to quell the community outrage the prospect of evicting 17 elderly, and often frail, seniors has unleashed.

"It is very alarming," said Millie Rosenstein, who chairs the city's Commission on Older Americans. "It's real and pending and distressing to say the least. This is reality. We're not talking about projections. Something has to be done, and it has to be done immediately."

Opponents of the proposed project see the proposed project as a dramatic highlight of a widespread housing crisis threatening to turn a diverse city into one only the rich can afford.

They note that Santa Monica is expected to lose 2,300 affordable rent-controlled units this year, as landlords charge market rates for vacated units under a state law that went into full effect Jan. 1. Another 101 federally subsidized units also have been lost as landlords opt out of a program that once produced greater returns than rent control.

Earlier this month, the Commission on Older Americans passed a resolution urging the city to address the problem, which commissioners said has a particularly devastating impact on seniors. The proposed demolition of 401 Montana focuses all their wildest fears.

"It is unrealistic to assume that these tenants will be able to relocate to another building in Santa Monica," Cara Silver, an attorney with the city, wrote in a personal letter to the planning department. "Moving them to an entirely different neighborhood - let alone City - will be disorienting, confusing and in some cases fatal."

Silver contends that the proposed condominium project is not consistent with the city's General Plan, which states the "one of Santa Monica's primary goals is to preserve the quality and character of its existing single and multi-family residential neighborhoods."

In addition, Silver notes that the city's Land Use Element encourages residential neighborhoods to "retain their unique characteristics, neighborhood identities and wide diversity."

Opponents of the project also are exploring ways to declare the 1947 two-story building with a sweeping front lawn a landmark. The retirement hotel is not listed on the Santa Monica Historic Resources inventory. But because it is more than 50 years old, the Landmarks Commission must review any future demolition permit.

The current owner, who has been trying to sell the building for years, said a denial by the Planning Commission doesn't guarantee that the building will remain as apartments for the elderly.

"If this doesn't get the permits, that doesn't mean it will continue as is," said Lisa Dellagatta. "We try not to raise rents. This is a very big responsibility to take care of elderly people. We've been here since 1974. We're a little tired."