Artists Get Eviction Notice, Demand City Takes Action
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Tenants of a warehouse-style building in L.A.'s Fashion District say they're about to be evicted from their homes and workplaces after a criminal complaint was filed against the building by the city attorney.
Many tenants of 931 East Pico Boulevard were drawn to the four-story building because they can live and work there — much like a similar warehouse that made headlines this past December in Oakland where 36 people died in a massive fire.
That building, also known as the "Ghost Ship" warehouse, was also a refuge for struggling artists. Officials later discovered it had many building code violations.
Within a few days of the Oakland tragedy, L.A. City Attorney Mike Feuer filed a criminal complaint against the owner of the warehouse on East Pico, stating residences there were unlawfully constructed with no smoke alarms and inaccessible fire escapes.
Today, a notice from the L.A. City fire marshal details the building's latest chapter: ordering all who live and work here to vacate the building by June 22.
The attorney representing many of the remaining tenants says the landlord has abandoned them and the city has turned its back.
"We are demanding that the mayor and city council do something," attorney Harold Greenberg said.
L.A. City Councilman Jose Huizar introduced a motion Friday to try to find money in the city to provide temporary relocation relief for tenants. The city intends to make the owner of the building pay for the costs.