Pasadena looks to take legal steps to clean up 'public nuisance' St. Luke's hospital

A historic Pasadena building is now a public nuisance, leaving the city and residents frustrated.

St. Luke's Medical Center was built in 1933 and closed in 2002. It's been abandoned and vacant since then, coming to life only when used in movies and productions.  It made it on "La LA Land," "Kill Bill" and a Foo Fighters music video "Run."

But its façade is marred with graffiti, windows are broken out, weeds have taken over the landscape and squatters are moving in.

"All the businesses here, and people that actually live in this area, you know,  it's an eyesore. They don't wanna see this, it's terrible," said Juanickka Easterling, Altadena resident

The City of Pasadena wants the owners to clean up the site, secure the building and maintain the property as it now has become a health and safety problem. Pasadena police say since January 1, they have had 80 reports of potentially unlawful activity on St. Luke's eleven acres.

The city has issued several citations and warnings to the property owner, Mehdi Boulour of Denley Investments, to no avail. No one is answering.

Looking into some of Denley investments' other properties, it seems Pasadena isn't the only city that's had major concerns. 

Boulour has been under fire repeatedly, most significantly, he pled no contest to criminal charges following a 2018 LAPD raid at a Hollywood building where drugs and weapons were seized. City leaders at the time said offices there were illegally and unsafely rented as apartments.

Denley's last listed office space is locked up and appears empty. Pasadena city leaders believe Boulour runs his business from home now.

The city of Pasadena is now looking into the next steps -- legal recourses for forced compliance