Filipinotown doesn’t often get noticed in the fight to keep older housing from demolition by neglect (or fire). But it should.
A concerned neighbor reached out to me recently about older homes falling victim to neglect and demolition (all bolding is mine). This is very slightly condensed from multiple messages.
Wanted to let you know that 2113 W. Court Street is being demo’d today [August 16]…probably still in progress. It’s an old multi-family zoned property, little Victorian with back house…
An out-of-state absentee owner got aggressive when I tried to photograph the demo.
Oh, and there’s…a later Craftsman style at 230 N. Coronado Street that’s fenced off with a demo permit.
I’d estimate [that 2113 W. Court Street has been vacant] since 2022-2023. The older man (owner) lived there, in the back house, for years and then finally moved. The front house, however…there was a tenant that was either evicted or moved, probably sometime around 2020.
But prior to all that…the family never did any repairs on the front house, so it fell into complete disrepair. If you go back further on Google [Street View] shots, it goes back to 2009 and you can see the long slow fall into disrepair.
(Ed. note: It’s true. See for yourself.)
For me, what was absolutely infuriating is that it’s owned by a family that had the ability to do better upkeep and find better tenants (for the front and/or back) if that was such a problem…from what I know they just threw their hands up and have done little to nothing for the past 5 years, refused to entertain offers from preservationists or others wanting to save it, and clearly, they were not interested in housing anyone.
They had it listed for over $1 million, but I don’t see pricing history and from what I know, it was not sold, even with the caveat of doing a demo first.
BTW, since the elder-owner moved out (and possibly before), homeless folks were constantly breaking in and contributing to the decline of the property…so some of it is not just age, and their unwillingness to rehab/find better tenants, etc., it’s also the owners’ unwillingness. to properly secure, sell, etc. before any of the decay happened.
What has happened to pride of ownership? My boss had her share of bad tenants, but she was still a firm believer in keeping her properties clean, neat, and in good condition. Letting a property go to rack and ruin is a moral failing in her book, as it is in mine.
Anyway, the neighbor added:
222 N. Carondelet is another small older home, off market, being held empty but in the process of being cleaned, sort of, probably due to complaints to the City. Completely overgrown and a fire hazard…this is a short walk to the massive homeless-caused fires that destroyed an apartment building (now demo’d) and an older empty Craftsman on Carondelet that was also being held empty due to “sentimental reasons” (addresses are 124 N. Carondelet, the Craftsman and 130+ is where the multi-unit, unsecured, incomplete apartment structure was demo’d due to being a complete loss…Google Maps still shows the old Craftsman that was removed…
(Ed. note: I previously covered the fire at 130 N. Carondelet. It displaced ELEVEN neighbors and is pictured above. Image courtesy of Citizen.)
Strangely, there don’t seem to be any complaints on file for 222 N. Carondelet. Hopefully whoever owns it is cleaning it up to sell it or rent it out…but I know better than to hold my breath.
As for 124 N. Carondelet, it has a pending demo permit application for the house and garage. “Sentimental reasons”, my ass.
…Filipinotown seems to be a bit of a forgotten casualty of the housing crisis…These homes are held, for decades, by families…many are falling into disrepair, and consequently the younger generations, if they are passed to them, just sell to developers and move…
Though not Filipinotown, just lost a gem at 806 N. Coronado as well. It was in good condition, had renters in the past year. Original demo permit was for the garage only…then a second demo notice was filed on 7/22 I think, then by 7/26 the wrecking ball fell. The house and garage were completely demo’d with no time to react. Here’s the fiasco of dated permits by LADBS.
Looks like the new project was approved after the fact as well, not prior. House definitely could have been rehabbed or moved.
Here at Empty Los Angeles, my goal is for there to be no more forgotten casualties.
Every neighborhood in Los Angeles matters, and every neighborhood deserves better than neglect, fire, and out-of-state absentee ownership.
2113 West Court Street, Filipinotown.
230 North Coronado Street, Filipinotown.
222 North Carondelet Street, Filipinotown.
124 North Carondelet Street, Filipinotown.
130 North Carondelet Street, Filipinotown. (Street View photo still shows the lost 1909 bungalow, not the under-construction building that burned down and set several neighboring buildings on fire.)
I'd def help out to pass an ordinance to prevent all demos unless they go through a process of giving the homes away for $1. Then, they could possibly be saved and moved to a different location, like Altadena or the Palisades.