Councilmember: Developer “Lied to Us”
At their June 18 meeting, the South Robertson Neighborhood Council (SORONC) took action to oppose the proposed Dan Harkham-owned hotel project in Pico Robertson. The surprise action came more than three hours into the online-and-telephonic meeting, after NC members heard public testimony from the current Harkham tenants facing eviction to make way for the proposed hotel. Local labor and religious leaders also spoke to the NC, issuing a call of moral clarity.
This is not the first time this project has come before this body; in 2017, the NC endorsed the project. Recent proposed project changes (the addition of 14 rooms and a seventh story) brought the project back for an additional advisory vote, originally scheduled for March. Support for the revised project was a unanimous 8-0 coming out of the NC’s Land Use committee, and it was expected to pass the full body easily. On Thursday night however, one NC member seemed to reflect the changed feeling of the body in saying that in 2017, “I was somewhat enthused about [the project],” before adding “not anymore.”
Seeming misrepresentations from the Harkham development project team led to this change in attitude. NC members recalled in 2017 receiving assurances from the developer that no tenants would be displaced. In light of the extensive tenant testimony on Thursday, one NC member cautiously suggested that the developer had engaged in “perhaps a misrepresentation.” Another member was more blunt in explaining how the developer lost her trust: “They lied to us.”
Neither Harkham nor development partner Sinan Sinanian appeared at the meeting. Several NC members expressed concern that the developer was not there to answer questions. The project’s champion on the NC was flummoxed and could not explain the developer’s absence. She did offer a sort of apology to the Harkham tenants facing eviction. Referring to the global pandemic, she acknowledged “It’s not a good time to be displaced. I get that,” she said, before adding “but...”
With the motion to support the project on the floor, after 11 p.m. and several meeting extensions the NC voted. By a narrow margin (9-8), the NC voted first to amend the proposed motion from one of support to one of opposition. The motion to oppose the project then passed by a wide margin of 15 to 4. The SORONC will now communicate their opposition to the City Planning Department.
Reached after the vote, project representative and land use consultant Eric Lieberman said: “I'm not sure why there is confusion about the existing units. We've been very clear that there are [currently] ten existing [rent stabilized] apartments on site. In fact, that was a main focus of discussion at our very first [NC] meeting. Also, it is very clearly stated in all of our documentation and entitlement application materials.”
6/20/20: This post has been clarified and updated with additional information from a SORONC official and from the developer’s representative.