|
 |
||
|
Tenementazation of Mission Viejo Recently, my wife and I visited the new Lennar condo development overlooking the Target on Jeronimo at Los Alisos. To say we were disappointed would be an understatement. These three-story walk-up tenements reminded us of New York's lower eastside or the low-end walk-ups in south Boston, built in the late 1800s to house the flood of immigrant laborers that were flocking to our shores. These incipient slums by Lennar have been built to the same LOW standards of those bygone times, the obviously cheap construction, flimsy windows, hollow-core doors, low-end cabinetry, big box-style lighting, kitchen and bathroom fixtures and no yards (although the children of the multi-families can always play in the Target or on its parking lot) are some of the low points. The major difference between these and the tenements back east is the ones here have indoor plumbing. This type of multifamily housing is the exact opposite of “the California promise.” Even though they range from $400K to almost $550K, they will almost certainly quickly revert to low-end rentals much like areas in Ladera and Rancho Santa Margarita. We are fortunate that these tenements are at the edge of the city and are surrounded by commercial businesses so they are not as likely to reduce our property values. Dale A. Sandore |
||