Barrington Plaza is an apartment complex in Los Angeles, California, located at 11740 Wilshire Boulevard in Sawtelle. At the time of its completion, in 1962, it was described as the largest privately built apartment development in the western United States.
| Barrington Plaza | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Address | 11740 Wilshire Boulevard |
| Town or city | Los Angeles |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 34°02′56″N 118°27′37″W / 34.048785°N 118.460392°W |
| Construction started | 1958 |
| Completed | 1962 |
| Website | |
| https://www.douglasemmett.com/barrington-plaza | |
Design
editAs originally constructed, the plaza consisted of three high-rise buildings which contained 712 apartments. It also included retail and restaurant space, a 330,000-square-foot (31,000 m2) parking garage and a recreational building.[1]
It was designated a fallout shelter, with 40,000-square-foot (3,700 m2) of its garage space and hallways being expected to be able to shelter ten times the resident population.[2]
It was both the largest,[1] and the tallest,[3] privately built apartment complex west of Chicago.
History
editPlanning for Barrington Plaza began in 1958, when it was initially envisaged to cost $14 million.[4] It was originally conceived and developed by the B.C. Deane Company, based in Van Nuys, and designed by architect Phillip Daniel of DMJM,[5] which later became AECOM. Louis Lesser Enterprises were brought in as partners at the beginning of 1959, subsequently becoming the sole sponsor and buying out Deane in June 1961.[6] Construction started in 1960;[7] it was completed in 1962 and cost about $20 million.[1] A year after completion, around 50% of the units had been sold.[8][9]
In 1961, Barrington Plaza and its developer, Ben Deane, were selected for an award by the National Association of Home Builders.[10]
The original application for a $14 million Federal Housing Administration loan was described as the largest single application for an insurance commitment under the urban renewal program ever filed in the United States;[11] the actual initial loan was $15.2 million towards the end of 1959.[12] This was reported to have increased to $16.7 million on completion in 1962,[1] and then to $18.6 by the end of Louis Lesser Enterprises' ownership in 1965.[13] In that year, Barrington Plaza was sold to a group from Ohio.[13][14] In 1966, following foreclosure on the loan after it reached $21 million, the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations held hearings into investments secured by the FHA, with Barrington Plaza being the first they addressed.[12]
In 1998, the property was purchased by Douglas Emmett, Inc.[15][16][17]
On January 29, 2020, a multiple alarm fire occurred at 8:30 am at Barrington Plaza causing 11 reported injuries and extensive damage to the 6th floor. Some residents were rescued by helicopter from the roof.[18] Eight floors of the building were red-tagged at that time, barring occupancy.[19]
Renovation and eviction of current residents
edit
On May 8, 2023, the owners of Barrington Plaza announced the closure of the complex to install fire sprinklers, which were not required when the buildings were constructed, and make other changes to upgrade and modernize the building. The renovations were to cost $300,000,000 and take years to complete.[20] After the fire, there are 577 units in the complex. All residents were scheduled to be evicted by September 5, however residents over 62 or disabled were allowed to stay for another eight months. The owners claim that the properties would not be returned to the rental market afterward, under the Ellis Act. The eviction of these residents is considered one of the largest mass evictions in recent Los Angeles history.[19]
Legal Case
editIn June 2023, tenants of Barrington Plaza filed a legal case against the Santa Monica-based real estate investment trust, Douglas Emmett, Inc., alleging violations of the California Ellis Act. The Ellis Act permits landlords to vacate their buildings if they intend to permanently withdraw from the rental business. Douglas Emmett had planned to evict residents from 712 rent-controlled and market-rate units to install fire sprinklers at the 62-year-old complex located at 11740 Wilshire Boulevard in Sawtelle.
On June 13, 2024, Superior Court Judge H. Jay Ford III tentatively ruled in favor of the tenants. The ruling stated that Douglas Emmett's intention to vacate the building for renovations, with plans to re-rent the units at higher rates afterward, did not align with the Ellis Act's stipulations. The judge concluded that the landlord had no intention of permanently exiting the rental business, as they planned to continue renting the apartments after completing the refurbishments.
Judge Ford wrote, “The court concludes [the landlord’s] intent to temporarily withdraw Barrington Plaza from the rental market with the present intent to return it to the rental market after the renovations are completed is inconsistent with an intent to go out of the rental business under the Ellis Act.”
This tentative decision, expected to be finalized, halted what would have been the city's largest mass eviction, directly affecting over 100 residents who remained at Barrington Plaza after the eviction attempts began the previous year.
References
edit- ^ a b c d "712-UNIT PROJECT FINISHED ON COAST". The New York Times. 23 September 1962.
- ^ "Apartment Approved as Official Fallout Shelter". Los Angeles Times. 15 October 1961.
- ^ "Everything Is 'Go' at Barrington Plaza". Los Angeles Times. 16 September 1962.
- ^ "14 Million Rebuilding Job Planned". Los Angeles Times. 19 June 1958.
- ^ "Barrington Plaza, luxury apartment project under construction, West Los Angeles, 1960". Los Angeles Examiner. USC Digital Library. 27 March 1960.
- ^ Investigation into FHA multiple dwelling projects: Hearings, Eighty-ninth Congress, second session. 1966. p. 99.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - ^ "Work to Start on Huge Urban Renewal Project". Los Angeles Times. 10 July 1960.
- ^ "'THE ONLY WAY TO GO---UP': High Rise Developer Defends Loss of View to Convenience". Los Angeles Times. 25 June 1963.
- ^ "Personality: Boom Is Loud for Lesser". The New York Times. 16 March 1963.
- ^ "L.A. Project Selected for NAHB Award". Los Angeles Times. 15 January 1961.
- ^ "$14 Million Loan Application for West Side Project Filed". Los Angeles Times. 5 April 1959.
- ^ a b "Senate Panel to Investigate U.S.-Insured Housing Units". The New York Times. 23 August 1966.
- ^ a b "HOUSING DEFAULT TRACED IN SENATE". The New York Times. 26 August 1966.
- ^ "470 F. 2d 669 - National Labor Relations Board v. Tragniew Inc Tragniew Inc". United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. OpenJurist. 8 September 1972.
- ^ "Emmett Buys 712-Unit Barrington Plaza". Los Angeles Times. 27 February 1998. Retrieved 2020-01-12.
- ^ "Emmett Buys 712-Unit Barrington Plaza". Los Angeles Business Journal. 12 March 1998. Retrieved 2020-01-12.
- ^ "Welcome To Barrington Plaza". Douglas Emmett. Archived from the original on 2015-01-09. Retrieved 2015-01-22.
- ^ Munoz, Anabel; staff, ABC7 com (January 30, 2020). "'Suspicious' fire at high-rise apartment building in West Los Angeles leaves 11 injured, including baby, LAFD says". ABC7 Los Angeles.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b Esquivel, Paloma (2023-05-26). "They face L.A.'s largest eviction in years. But these Westside renters won't go quietly". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
- ^ "Hundreds of tenants forced to leave Westside high-rise plagued by fires". ABC7 Los Angeles. 2023-05-09. Retrieved 2023-05-26.