After almost 13 years, the fate of two long empty Victorian cottages was secured. Both were carefully moved from their location at 3018 and 3024 Royal Street in University Park to a new home a few blocks away at 2350 Portland Street, the culmination of a decades long effort to save the two homes from destruction.
“The move was a true collaboration between the community (West Adams Heritage Association), the developer (Southland Development), the HPOZ (University Park HPOZ) and USC (University of Southern California),” said Jim Childs, a 30-year resident of West Adams and member of the West Adams Heritage Association (WAHA) Preservation Committee. Other committee members include his wife, Jean Frost, who serves as chair, Mitzi Mogul, Laura Meyers, and Roland Sousa, who have all worked on this issue over the years and share credit for saving these properties.
The houses were originally located at: 3018 Royal Street (the M.C. Mills Residence, c.1900) and 3024 Royal Street (the B.P. Lloyd Residence, c.1905). Owned by USC and vacant after becoming damaged in the 1994 earthquake, the houses were first targeted for demolition in 2002 when USC wanted to build a parking lot. As fate would have it, these houses were saved after the neighborhood raised a firestorm of protest upon learning USC tore down another house without a demolition permit.
In 2013, USC again sought to develop the land, this time for a temporary daycare center, but the University Park HPOZ still objected to tearing down the historic houses. In 2014, Southland Development Group purchased 2350 Portland Street which had been a vacant lot for over 40 years and sought to build three duplexes on the site. Though disappointed their plans were not approved by the University Park HPOZ, the developers agreed to consider Childs’ suggestion of locating a historic building on their site.
Originally Childs had hoped to move a brick house (3016 Royal Street) since it was the largest and nicest of the threatened houses but it proved too expensive. Ultimately, Southland came up with site plan to locate the two wood frame houses on the site and USC agreed to underwrite the move. USC also agreed to incorporate the brick house into their plans for a new development on the site.
Childs credits the developer, Southland Development, for having the courage to consider something “outside their box.” He also credits USC for underwriting the cost of relocating the homes and the City Councilman Curren Price for encouraging the parties to work together.
It was an amazing confluence of events; Southland was willing to forgo new construction and adaptively reuse the houses; the long recalcitrant owner of the vacant land had prevented any earlier development from going on the site; and USC officials were willing to pay for the cost of moving the houses making the deal even more appealing to the Southland.
“I don’t consider myself a developer,” said John Guell (pronounced gwell), President and CEO of Southland Development. ” I am a problem solver and this was a classic example of solving a problem for everyone, it was such a win-win situation.”
Guell’s company specializes in preserving the exterior of historic homes, bringing appropriate historic elements inside the house and converting the space to master bedrooms with master baths giving students privacy with a common kitchen, dining and laundry spaces. He has about a dozen other student housing projects in the city.
“We are thrilled, there’s a lot of good will and we are moving forward,” said Childs whose committee looks forward to working with USC on their development.
“The move will enable USC to meet the needs of new residents and also support the character of the University Park HPOZ by infilling historic homes,” reported the WAHA on their Facebook page.
A long story with a happy ending!
The Buzz thanks Laura Meyers of WAHA for sharing these photos of this amazing journey. Southland CEO John Guell has agreed to share the video documenting the entire move once the editing is complete. The Buzz will share the video shot by a drone in a follow up story soon.
