City Grants Protection to Chase Knolls

Whoops of joy and loud applause broke out Tuesday after the Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved designating the Chase Knolls Garden Apartments a historic cultural monument.

Listing the 1940s-era Sherman Oaks complex as a monument grants it at least temporary protection. To demolish Chase Knolls, the owners would be required to complete an environmental impact report. Council members and officials were quick to caution residents that their victory may be short-lived and that it was no guarantee they could remain tenants.

But that didn’t dampen the spirits of more than 100 supporters who attended the council hearing.

“I’m thrilled,” said Mary Jane Atkins, a tenant who helped rally neighbors to fight for preservation. “The community banding together works. It’s a special place, and more of them should be saved.”

Legacy Partners, an Irvine company that bought the the 260-unit complex in January with plans to tear it down to build luxury apartments, said Chase Knolls did not merit historic status.

“This property, Chase Knolls, is at best marginally worthy of historic designation,” said Dennis Cavallari, senior vice president. “This action is no other than a delay tactic.”

Cavallari said his company offered residents $15,000 each to relocate, and so far the company has spent more than $1 million. Of 98 senior citizens who are tenants, he said, 80 have relocated.

The council’s vote on Chase Knolls was unusual, in that the Cultural Heritage Commission had deadlocked twice on a decision. Without a recommendation from the commission, 10 of the 15 council members had to approve the application. The vote was 13 to 0.

Legacy’s two architectural experts testified that Chase Knolls was not a significant example of the garden city style--an architectural movement that designed living units around open, garden areas.

“We all know the truth. The reality and legality of this is, even if this is designated historical, Legacy still has the legal right to proceed with relocation of every tenant,” said Benjamin Reznik, Legacy attorney.

But other architectural experts disagreed with Legacy officials.

Kenneth Bernstein, director of preservation issues for the Los Angeles Conservancy, said although his agency had declined to support other garden city-style complexes it has been contacted about, Chase Knolls was worthy of protection. Its clean, spare buildings may seem simple compared with earlier, more decorative periods of architecture, but they’re worth saving, he said.

In a show of support, residents and friends of Chase Knolls stood up during one portion of the hearing, many wearing white stickers emblazoned with “Chase Knolls--A Working-Class Monument” or “Preserve the Past, Protect the Future, Save Chase Knolls.”

To help promote their cause, preservationists introduced actress Penny Singleton, 92, who lived in one of the apartments until last year.

Singleton, who played Blondie in more than 20 films, urged council members to grant the apartments monument status.

“By preserving Chase Knolls you preserve a community of time gone by, where neighbors know neighbors,” she said.