What Happened to 6743 Irvine Avenue?

(Image courtesy of Citizen)

Is it me, or does it seem like it's open season on older housing in North Hollywood?

We recently lost 6401 Camellia Avenue (fire).

The city is dragging its feet on Otsego Street (hostile squatters, nuisance activity, etc.).

Lourine Court could easily have been entirely lost (arson, deliberate damage, tenant harassment, city apathy, etc.).

The Otsego Villas were severely damaged by Tropical Storm Hilary (bad unpermitted roofing and REALLY bad management).

11687 Erwin Street WAS a bungalow court on the abatement list; now it's gone. Also gone are 11419 Killion Street (a small apartment building), 11043 Hartsook Street (a Mellenthin-esque house), 10910 Huston Street (a cute storybook house), and 10742 Hortense Street (another house). Oh, and all of the properties in this paragraph are currently dirt lots.

And three days ago, we lost 6743 Irvine Avenue.

Google Street View images from 2019 and earlier show a modest clapboard house that ZIMAS says was built in 1925. The most recent image, from 2022, shows the original buildings gone, with a newer wood structure in progress.

Here's where it gets weird: LADBS has multiple applications on file, dating from 2019 to 2023, to convert the existing house into a duplex with an ADU, plus a 4-car garage. But you can tell the original buildings are gone, so what happened?

There is no demolition permit on file; was there an illegal demolition? (Let's be honest: it's LA, so probably.)

Some good citizen reported 6743 Irvine as vacant and unsecured on August 6. LADBS tossed it over to the inspection bureau.

And just over a month later on September 7, the new structure went up in flames, belching smoke and threatening the auto repair facility next door. (I work in the auto industry. You REALLY do not want an auto repair facility catching on fire.)

In fact, I suggest watching this Citizen video to get an idea of how dangerously close the new structure was to the auto shop. This fire could have caused FAR more damage.

6743 Irvine Avenue, North Hollywood.

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