Abandoned for nearly a decade, North Hollywood’s Valley Plaza shopping center has deteriorated into a hotspot for fires, squatting and criminal activity. Now there is a push for it to be declared a public nuisance so it can be demolished.
Once considered a treasure of the San Fernando Valley, the shopping center declined in the 1970s as it tried to compete with newer businesses, and then suffered a major blow from the severe damage sustained in the 1994 Northridge earthquake.
Several ownership changes later, a company called Five Points LLC, also known as the Charles Company, took over roughly 10 years ago, but never reopened any businesses, The LAist recently reported.
L.A. City Councilmember Adrin Nazarian is now leading a charge to have the Building and Safety Commission declare the site a public nuisance.
“My former predecessor, Councilmember [Paul] Krekorian, we both approached the owner. We tried to help them,” Nazarian said. “They did not take the steps that was necessary. And they did not take the steps necessary, if you think about it, during the booming time of the economy, in ’14, ’15, ’16, ’17, when the interest rates were low and a lot of folks were making phenomenal investments, they failed to do so at that time. Now they want to do it? With these high interest rates? They’re not going to do it now.”
The board is expected to hear the proposal Tuesday night, and if approved, could ultimately grant power to the city to demolish the shopping center.
Nazarian says the cost of tearing down the plaza would fall to the owner.
KTLA has reached out to the ownership company for comment and is waiting for a statement.
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