With California mired in a housing shortage, a state agency is allowing hundreds of houses and surplus lots in the neighborhoods of El Sereno, South Pasadena and Pasadena to sit vacant — many for years — denying a potential source of housing for new residents.

After a three-month investigation, this newsgroup determined the number of vacant homes — a portion of the 460 homes Caltrans bought during the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s to make way for an extension of the 710 Freeway ultimately nixed two years ago — has increased by 150% since November 2013.

Caltrans listed 65 vacant residences, many boarded up, in a document obtained by this newsgroup from sources close to the 710 corridor tenants, stamped “110513” or Nov. 5, 2013. On July 29, Caltrans supplied an updated list showing 163 vacant dwelling units, mostly single-family homes with a few multifamily residences.

The document was provided in response to a state public records request for the latest number of vacant structures in the three-city freeway corridor.

In Pasadena, 50 units are vacant, including two apartment complexes, according to the updated Caltrans list. This represents about one-half the properties owned by Caltrans in Pasadena.

“We are in the middle of a housing crisis, and you have a state agency intentionally leaving units vacant?” said Pasadena attorney Christopher Sutton, who has represented Caltrans tenants in court throughout the past several decades.

Caltrans officials responded to questions via email, saying the vacant homes would be sold according to laws allowing qualified tenants to buy the homes at affordable prices or others at market value. Caltrans did not say they would rent the vacant homes. No date was given for the sale of vacant homes.

In the fall of 2016, Caltrans announced it would begin offering 42 homes for sale, but so far, only 10 have been sold, Sutton said. Hundreds more are supposed to be sold by 2020. Although former tenants could be considered as potential buyers, many have died, missing out on the promised opportunity to buy the homes they lived in for decades.

Maria Almeida, 90, sits in the living room of her Caltrans owned home where she has lived for 39 years on Tuesday, July 30, 2019. Almeida lives on a block of Sheffield Avenue in Los Angeles where some of the homes are vacant and all are owned by Caltrans. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

A once occupied home sits vacant on Tuesday, July 30, 2019 on Sheffield Avenue in Los Angeles where all the homes are owned by Caltrans. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

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A dog stands guard at the Castillo’s home on Sheffield Avenue in Los Angeles where all the homes are owned by Caltrans on Tuesday, July 30, 2019. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

A once occupied home sits vacant on Tuesday, July 30, 2019 on Sheffield Avenue in Los Angeles where all the homes are owned by Caltrans. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

Maria Almeida, 90, who has lived in her Caltrans owned home for 39 years, says she is not going anywhere on Tuesday, July 30, 2019. Almeida lives on a block of Sheffield Avenue in Los Angeles where some of the homes are vacant and all are owned by Caltrans. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)



“Where would I go,” says Maria Almeida, 90, on Tuesday, July 30, 2019 at the Caltrans owned home she’s lived in for 39 years and now shares with her daughter Lisa who helps care for her. Almeida lives on a block of Sheffield Avenue in Los Angeles where some of the homes are vacant and all are owned by Caltrans. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

A once occupied home sits vacant on Tuesday, July 30, 2019 on Sheffield Avenue in Los Angeles where all the homes are owned by Caltrans. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

Neighborhood like a ghost town

Resident Lisa Almeida, 67, walked Sheffield Street in El Sereno, a modest Los Angeles neighborhood just across the western border of Alhambra in the path of the defunct freeway. Almeida was counting vacant Caltrans homes. Just on her small block between Norwich Avenue and Allan Street, eight homes were empty, and Caltrans had two lots for sale.

Further north on Sheffield, many more homes are boarded.

“I stopped counting after 35,” she said. “And 35 is a big number. That’s sad.”

Almeida, who lives in a Caltrans home rented by her mom, Maria Almedia, 90, for 38 years, said some elderly residents died of lung cancer or heart attacks, but others were evicted by Caltrans. She wants to see Caltrans repopulate the vacant homes.

“Why are they hoarding these houses?” she asked. “Why don’t they rent them?”

On Tuesday, she passed a vacant lot at the end of her block with a Caltrans ownership sign. She fears it will be sold to a developer without any assurances to the low-income residents of El Sereno that a new home or a multifamily building built there will be affordable.

“Why not get Habitat For Humanity? They can build four tiny houses on this property,” she said.

High number of vacancies in Pasadena

The hodgepodge of vacant homes roughly align the path of the now defunct 710 Freeway extension, from El Sereno to South Pasadena and Pasadena on both sides of the 710 ditch between Pasadena Avenue and St. John Avenue.

Art Alcantara lives in a Caltrans home next door to 1141 Pasadena Ave., a vacant home owned by Caltrans. He remembers when his neighbor moved out shortly after her husband died.

“For three years, there’s been no one there,” he said, while working in his garage on Monday. “After the woman left, they (Caltrans) never rented it out anymore. I guess they are really not that interested.”

On nearby State Street, at least four Caltrans homes stand vacant. At 237 State St., a two-story home with off-white stucco and green, wooden windows has sat empty for 16 years, Sutton said. This was after Caltrans invested money to restore this and other select homes.

The house was designed by famous 20th Century architect Frederick Louis Roehrig, often referred to as the millionaire’s architect.

Many stately craftsman and midcentury modern homes along the freeway corridor are owned by Caltrans, according to Claire Bogaard, a member of the Pasadena Heritage board and chairman of the No 710 Action Committee. The committee worked to nullify plans for a freeway extension and now is concentrating on convincing Caltrans to sell or rent the surplus homes at affordable rates.

One of the most well-known is the childhood home of famous TV chef Julia Child. The 1911 house built by G. Lawrence Stimson is vacant and in disrepair.

About seven years ago, Bogaard took a tour with Caltrans officials of the Roehrig house on State Street after the state transportation agency had refurbished the home. She remembers a rope that released a secret stairway inside the home, what she called “a very elegant, beautiful house” with wood floors and twin fireplaces.

“That is one house they (Caltrans) could sell. But it just sits there, vacant,” she said, pleased at least some were repaired.

Left to rot

In a letter to Caltrans Director Laurie Berman dated May 29, sent on behalf of the No 710 Action Committee, Bogaard accuses the agency of leaving most of the nearly 500 homes to rot, saying the bulk are in “poor or deplorable condition due to lack of maintenance on the part of Caltrans.”

She and letter co-author Janice SooHoo suggest Caltrans allow local real estate agents and/or nonprofit housing agencies to “assist with the affordable sales.” They urged Caltrans to expedite sales and rentals by working with the local cities.

They said although Caltrans claims it intends to sell the vacant homes and restore neighborhoods, “progress on this plan is almost non-existent.”

“With over 450 houses already planned for sale, which are suited to various levels of housing needs, Caltrans should help address this critical housing shortage by prioritizing the sales process of its real estate in the former 710 Corridor,” they wrote.

Forcing evictions?

In their letter, Soohoo and Bogaard also allege Caltrans is making it so difficult for tenants who participate in the affordable rent program that they become frustrated and leave — some into homelessness.

“Caltrans continues to raise rents and is forcing tenants out — sometimes by refusing to accept rent payments — and then leaving the property vacant and subject to vandalism, etc.” they wrote in their letter.

Lydia Sanchez, a renter living on a fixed income of Social Security and disability of $1,200 a month, was paying about $1,559 per month in rent because Caltrans said she failed to file the correct paperwork to qualify for the affordable rent program, said Roberto Flores, founder of United Caltrans Tenants, a support group for tenants in El Sereno. The group helped her file the correct forms, but it took almost six months, he said.

“They got so frustrated, they feel that have no way out except to move out,” he said.

Flores said it is a practice of Caltrans to stop accepting rent and then a year or two later, send a notice of back due rent with penalties. Sometimes the renters are faced with a bill of $3,000 to $4,000 and are unable to pay, so they are evicted, he said.

In an email, Caltrans said eight properties became vacant in 2018: Occupants of four moved out “on their own volition, two tenants passed away” and two were evicted. The agency said there are circumstances in which the agency does not accept rent, usually “when a tenant is involved in litigation or other dispute with Caltrans.”

Flores believes Caltrans would rather see tenants leave so the state can sell the homes at market rates. “Caltrans intentionally has plans to depopulate the corridor, and they are pursuing those plans,” he said.

Caltrans denied it is trying to purposefully empty the homes. The agency said it works with tenants who cannot afford rent by starting a payment plan or working to put the tenant back into the affordable rent program.

Flores and others want to see tenants buy homes at affordable rates sooner rather than later. “The mission of the state is to utilize everything possible to contribute to affordable housing and to provide more affordable housing, thereby putting a dent in the housing and homeless crisis in the state,” he said.

He and state Sen. Maria Elena Durazo, D-Los Angeles, sought to stop an auction of 710 corridor vacant lots that was set for Friday. “There should be no more sales to developers,” Flores said. “Because that will gentrify El Sereno.”

While the auction proceeded as planned, Caltrans’ 710 corridor properties were removed.

Meanwhile, Bogaard said she has not received a response to her letter.