SAN JOSE — A judge has appointed a receiver to take control of the cleanup of an empty lot in downtown San Jose after multiple fires destroyed two homes and scorched the blighted property.
The court order granted the city of San Jose’s request to install a receiver to clean up and secure blighted downtown lots that have become a notorious nuisance for neighbors of the properties at the corner of North Fourth Street and East St. John Street.
Fire-scorched debris and wood at 100 North Fourth Street, a vacant lot in downtown San Jose. (George Avalos/Bay Area News Group)
“The court finds the appointment of a receiver to be appropriate and necessary,” Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Shella Deen wrote in the order she issued on Sept. 13.
Judge Deen approved San Jose’s request to appoint Gerard F. Keena II of the Bay Area Receivership Group to be the overseer of the parcels.
Two fires, a fatal drive-by shooting, homeless encampments, piles of burnt materials, stacks of debris and a dangerous dog are among the hazards at the site. The addresses are 100, 120, 146 and 152 North Fourth and 117 North Fifth Street, the court and city records show.
The receiver is authorized “to take full, complete, and sole possession and control of the Properties, including tangible and intangible personal property,” the court ordered. “The properties are to be properly secured and closed to all unauthorized individuals not approved by the receiver.”
The Santa Clara County judge also blocked the owners of the blighted properties from interfering with the operations and efforts of the receiver by issuing a temporary restraining order and an injunction.
The latest legal battle comes as San Jose is under fire for its years-long failure to address blight woes in multiple downtown sites and elsewhere.
“If property owners know that the city lacks the will to enforce the rules, they will continue their bad behavior,” Bob Staedler, principal executive with Silicon Valley Synergy, a land-use consultancy, said in comments on Sept. 9.
It appears that the court paved the way for a process to enable the receiver to auction off the properties through a foreclosure effort.
Saratoga resident Brent Lee controls an LLC that owns the blighted lots. Several years ago, Lee proposed the development of a student housing tower on the site. Construction never began. The affiliate operates as RPRO152N3.
The North Fourth Street fires, which broke out in March 2024 and August 2024, have created serious hazards for people living next door and near the fire-torched sites, according to Jay Huang, the operating manager of Sunding Brothers LLC, which owns a property next to the blighted vacant lots.
“The lack of maintenance and security at the 146 and 152 North Fourth properties has significantly deteriorated the safety of the public in the surrounding area,” Huang stated in a declaration on file with Santa Clara County Superior Court. “Unhoused persons have created unsafe encampments in and around the 146 and 152 properties because they remain unsecured and vacant. This ongoing nuisance poses a direct threat to …read more
Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
