Those still searching for an apartment to rent can cross the
Club California apartments off of their “to-see”
lists.
About a week and a half ago, the approximate 600 tenants of the
Club California apartment complex on Roebling Avenue in Westwood,
most of whom are UCLA students and staff, received letters
notifying them that Club California had been bought by CRS, a
company based in San Diego. The company intends to convert the
apartments to condominiums.
Tenants must either move out or buy a condo from the new
company, which will range in price from about $300,000 to more than
$700,000, depending on the number of bedrooms.
A meeting was held on Monday evening in the pool area of the
complex to give tenants an opportunity to ask questions of Property
Manager Tony Mouallem as well as of Ruth Pugh, a realtor from
Century 21, and others involved with the project.
From the beginning it was clear what was on the minds of most of
the residents:
“When do we have to move out?”
The question was projected by various voices in the crowd,
seated alongside the pool. Many were concerned about moving with
final exams coming up. Tenants were assured they would have at
least until the end of their leases, many of which are
month-to-month or ending during the summer, to leave.
“We’ll honor the lease, definitely,” Mouallem
said.
Pugh said construction would begin immediately on individual
units after tenants leave.
Depending on what floor individuals live on, they will have more
or less time after the end of June to stay, as the construction is
going to occur in phases, starting with the first floor.
Tenants are also the first to have the option to buy the condo
units, though most at the meeting focused on moving out, despite
encouragement from Pugh to purchase.
“Our ultimate goal is to help you be homeowners,”
Pugh said repeatedly throughout the meeting.
To a young woman in the crowd who raised her hand and said she
had “zero interest” in purchasing a condo, Pugh
replied, “But what about your parents?”
The apartment-to-condo conversion will involve all new kitchens,
granite countertops, new light fixtures, maple cabinetry, a new gym
and other general improvements. The size of the units will not
change.
UCLA alumnus Alex Bastian said he was concerned about the
increasing cost of property in Westwood.
“When an area increases in value like this, tenants
suffer,” he said.
Bastian said he is concerned about finding another place to
live, not so much for himself but for his younger brother, who is
also his roommate and a current student at UCLA.
“I don’t want this to affect his schooling. Any
break from a habit is not good during school time,” he said.
“As prices go up and facilities get worse and worse, where
are we going to stay?”
Brian Cayton, a fourth-year aerospace engineering and history
student who has lived in the complex for two years, described it as
one of the best places to live in Westwood, though he said the rent
was expensive.
“I think it’s been great because the management was
always very nice. Anything that you needed, they kind of allowed
for,” he said.
One tenant, Dennis Jong, a UCLA alumnus currently employed with
the UCLA Office of Residential Life, expressed interest in buying a
unit. He said he was “actually sad” when he heard the
news about the conversion because he believes he will have to move
out of the complex he has inhabited for the past five years.
“(I’m) just sticking around ’cause I can walk
to work,” he said.
In the 1980s, the complex was zoned to become condominiums, but
out of a sense of obligation to provide apartments for students,
property managers chose not to convert until the recent offer by
CRS.
Sandy Brown, president of the Westwood-Holmby Property
Association, said she doesn’t think the apartment-condo
conversion is a trend in Westwood that students need to be
concerned about. The trend seems to be for hotels to convert into
condos, she said.