Why Should Taxpayers Foot the Bill for Demolition of Developer-Owned Buildings?

A reader tugged my sleeve over to 9300 and 9302 Exposition Boulevard, a postwar bungalow and duplex that were flipped together in 2019. Code enforcement complaints date to early 2022, so they seem to have been empty for over two years.

Both buildings are, to put it politely, troubled. 9300 has a longer list of complaints, but both are well known to LADBS. In the past 16 months, both addresses have had complaints indicating that they could be near collapse.

Here's 9300's list of complaints.

Here's 9302's list of complaints.

And here's the BBSC's meeting agenda for Tuesday the 25th, which details more issues with both addresses.

The usual suspects are all here: left open to the public, dumping, fire damage, and "repeatedly used by vagrants, vandals, gang members or for other illegal activity without the owner’s permission or consent, a public nuisance" (BBSC's words).

Both buildings are on the agenda to discuss a proposal to demolish them at public expense.

An ED1 project has been proposed for the two lots. That's not what bothers me. Yeah, it's ugly, but at least it'll add 43 affordable units in a relatively walkable area near transit.

What DOES bother me is that the owner of the two properties, who is also the developer, might get them demolished at taxpayer expense.

Why should YOU, the taxpayer, foot the bill for demolishing these developer-owned homes?

Properly securing, or demolishing, these buildings is the responsibility of their owner. But instead, they've been allowed to sit empty for years and go to rack and ruin, drawing crime and fire risk to the neighborhood.

If the property owner can afford to buy these properties in the first place and leave them empty, let alone replace them with a seven-story building, they can sure as hell afford to take full responsibility for securing or demolishing them.

Hopefully BBSC decides to hold the property owner accountable and require them to either secure or demolish the buildings. But this is LA, and I am painfully aware of how unlikely that is.

9300 Exposition Boulevard, Palms.

9302 Exposition Boulevard, Palms.

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