Pair Team up to Take Over Troubled Housing Complex

By Janine Zúñiga
Union-Tribune Staff Writer
Last updated: January 29th, 2007
www.SignonSanDiego.com

SAN YSIDRO – Social services agency Casa Familiar is working with an Orange County developer to purchase Villa Nueva Apartments, a large complex for low-income residents with a history of poor tenant-management relations. .

Casa Familiar, a nonprofit community group that has been in San Ysidro for 34 years, has teamed with Steadfast Properties, a Newport Beach-based development company, to buy and manage the 37-building complex.

Bill Bolton, the multifamily director of the Los Angeles office of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, confirmed last week that the complex is being sold.

“There will be new ownership of Villa Nueva,” Bolton said. “There will be new management in the very near future.”

Andrea Skorepa, CEO of Casa Familiar, and Christopher Hilbert, Steadfast Properties' senior vice president, said they were contractually obligated to not discuss the sale. Hilbert referred questions to Gina Dronet, executive director and general counsel for the Villa Nueva board of directors.

The Villa Nueva complex has 389 two-, three-and four-bedroom apartments, built in the 1970s. Many of the more than 1,200 registered residents at Villa Nueva receive aid from HUD through its Section 8 housing program, which was created to increase the production of low-income housing and to help low-income families pay rent.

Most residents pay based on their income, which can knock up to 60 percent off rents. Only about three dozen tenants pay full rent, which ranges from $839 to $1,040.

Tenants have complained for years that Villa Nueva's previous management company allowed many apartments to deteriorate to dangerous and unsanitary levels. Several apartments had vermin infestations.

Tenants complained that managers intimidated them with threats of eviction and ignored their complaints. In 2003, some residents formed a tenants group to challenge the existing tenants group, exacerbating tension at the complex.

U.S. Rep. Bob Filner, D-San Diego, visited Villa Nueva in August and asked federal housing officials to investigate tenant complaints. In October, the complex's board of directors replaced the apartment manager.

Dronet said reports of cockroach and bedbug infestations were exaggerated and didn't affect most of the apartments. She said the new manager has inspected every apartment and found eight units with evidence of pests. Those apartments were scheduled to be treated. Dronet said the new manager has replaced 2,100 window screens and will replace windows in 24 apartments before the sale.

Villa Nueva was founded by the Rev. John Blethen, a Catholic priest who belonged to the Order of St. Augustine. Blethen died in 2001 and ownership of Villa Nueva remains with the Augustinians.

Dronet said the board has been working for years on a long-term plan for the complex.

“The idea to sell came up through the whole issue of how do we make these 37-year-old buildings last another 20 years,” Dronet said. “They realized it's going to cost money that the Augustinians don't have.”

Dronet said the board, a majority of whom are Augustinians, decided the Catholic order would not be the best team to manage the property for the next 20 years. The board then sought bids, most of them submitted in October, to buy and manage the complex. The board required bidders to commit to renovating the complex and to continue offering subsidized housing.
In November, the board chose Casa Familiar and Steadfast because of Casa Familiar's record of providing social services in the southern San Diego neighborhood and Steadfast's real estate experience, Dronet said. She would not disclose the sale's price.

Bolton, the Los Angeles HUD office director, said his office received a formal request Jan. 11 to begin the sale process.

“It's been an uphill battle but I think we're heading in the right direction,” said Dronet, adding that she hopes all residents actively participate in the process by attending meetings.

Casa Familiar provides a range of services, including senior lunches, fitness programs, job counseling and parent support groups. In the past six years, it has ventured into real estate, building a senior-housing project and a development of eight affordable homes. In 2005, the agency purchased a building in San Ysidro that is being restored and converted into an arts and cultural center.

Steadfast Properties owns several residential, resort, retail and office properties, most of them on the West Coast. Its multifamily division has acquired, renovated or managed more than 20,000 apartments, more than 15,500 of which it currently owns or operates. Steadfast is working to secure financing for the Villa Nueva project.

Casa Familiar and Steadfast are planning tenant meetings to discuss concerns and future renovation plans, which include new roofs, windows, apartment interiors, stairways, walkways and landscaping. No dates have been set.

Some tenants said they aren't sure what effect the sale would have. Irma Paladez, who is part of the tenants group formed in 2003, said Villa Nueva managers have made many promises in the past that have not materialized.

“We're hopeful and we want to be involved,” Paladez said.

Dronet said that if the pending sale falls through, another buyer will be found.

“We've got the formula,” Dronet said. “We've got a game plan.”

Reporter Janine Zuniga: (619) 498-6636 or janine.zuniga@uniontrib.com

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