{"id":162298,"date":"2025-08-20T23:16:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T23:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/162298\/"},"modified":"2025-08-20T23:16:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T23:16:12","slug":"sell-property-or-demolish-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/162298\/","title":{"rendered":"Sell property or demolish it"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"California<\/a>A trolley moves past the shuttered California Theatre. (File photo courtesy of Google Street View)<\/p>\n

The owner of the crumbling California Theatre must either sell or demolish the site according to a legal settlement reached with the San Diego City Attorney\u2019s Office<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The agreement follows a lawsuit filed by the city<\/a> two years ago. Under its terms, the nearly century-old abandoned building on C Street must be listed for sale by the end of the month, and its owners will have until the end of next year to finalize the sale, City Attorney Heather Ferbert said Wednesday.<\/p>\n

If the transaction is not complete by the end of 2026, the building\u2019s owner, Caydon Property Group, will have 90 days to obtain permits for a controlled demolition.<\/p>\n

Caydon, which purchased the property in 2019 with plans for a hotel and condominium project, could face up to $1 million in civil penalties if the firm fails to honor the settlement terms.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis long-neglected property has been a danger and a drain on our community for far too long,\u201d Ferbert said in a statement. \u201cWith this settlement, the owner faces a clear choice: sell the property or demolish the unsafe structures. Either way, San Diegans will finally see action at the California Theatre site.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the Save Our Heritage Organisation<\/a>, the Spanish Colonial Revival style single-screen theater opened in 1927. The preservation group described the theater\u2019s \u201copulent interior\u201d which \u201coriginally featured gold leaf ceilings, murals, a huge Wurlitzer organ and was able to seat 2200 film-goers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though the venue had enjoyed new life as a spot for concerts, that was all over by the late 1980s. Despite a renovation, one owner went bankrupt and the site came under constant threat from the wrecking ball. Still, it is listed on the local Register of Historical Resources.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>The California Theatre in its heyday of 1929. (File photo courtesy of San Diego History Center)<\/p>\n

In recent years, according to the city, the building had become a frequent haunt for trespassers, some of whom set fires inside the structure. <\/p>\n

Ferbert\u2019s office said that the property also poses a danger to the public because toxic substances like asbestos and lead paint are present. In addition, structural hazards like collapsing pieces of the buildings endanger pedestrians and motorists.<\/p>\n

Mayor Todd Gloria called the California Theatre a blight that has \u201cbeen a barrier to achieving the progress desired by residents and local businesses.\u201d The agreement, though, \u201cmoves us closer to realizing the tremendous potential of this property and its role in revitalizing the Civic Center area.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis settlement delivers real accountability and a clear path to resolving the unacceptable conditions at the site,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

City News Service contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A trolley moves past the shuttered California Theatre. (File photo courtesy of Google Street View) The owner of…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":162299,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,93906,1582,276,93907,93908,93909,3549,7264,22864,10495,11883,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-162298","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-blight","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-california-theatre","13":"tag-caydon-property-group","14":"tag-heather-ferbert","15":"tag-san-diego","16":"tag-sandiego","17":"tag-save-our-heritage-organisation","18":"tag-settlement","19":"tag-todd-gloria","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-united-states-of-america","22":"tag-unitedstates","23":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","24":"tag-us","25":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115063644963642707","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162298\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}