Judge refuses to bar tenants’ removal

A judge on Wednesday rejected a request for a temporary restraining order that would have prevented Los Angeles officials from forcing a developer to remove dozens of tenants from a Hollywood high-rise.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant denied the request from real estate developer CIM Group, which received an order last month to vacate its 22-story Sunset and Gordon apartment complex. That order was triggered by a ruling in a lawsuit challenging the city’s approval of the project.

CIM Group, which owns the 299-unit building, said the Department of Building and Safety should not have issued the removal order because the ruling that triggered it is now the subject of an appeal. Deputy City Atty. Saro Balian disagreed and said CIM Group was warned months ago, after the judge’s ruling, that the building’s six-month temporary certificate of occupancy was on track to expire. Buildings cannot be occupied without such a document.

“You’ve seen this train coming down the tracks for some time,” the judge told the company’s lawyers.

CIM Group attorney Robert A. Sacks told Chalfant that his client had to wait until the matter was heard by the city’s Building and Safety Commission. That panel upheld the order Tuesday, giving CIM Group until May 21 to comply. After Wednesday’s court appearance, Sacks said CIM Group might still ask the state Court of Appeal to halt the city’s order. But with a 30day deadline, the building’s tenants are already experiencing lingering uncertainty, he said.

“Perhaps the best thing for all concerned, given that the city’s made up their mind ... is to follow that order and vacate people from the building,” he said.

Sacks said it was somewhat senseless for CIM Group to push tenants out of a building over a lawsuit that did not focus on the building’s safety. The lawsuit dealt mostly with CIM Group’s failure to preserve a portion of a 1924 restaurant building on Sunset Boulevard.

Robert P. Silverstein, attorney for the group that sued, said CIM Group should not have leased the building when it had a pending lawsuit. “CIM needs to accept responsibility,” he said.