The Death of Leisure Life Apartments

The normally quiet, suburban community of Rancho Peñasquitos is battling blight that seems to be worsening daily. The Leisure Life Apartments (near the corner of Carmel Mountain Road and Peñasquitos Drive) are not providing much of a leisurely lifestyle since management began notifying residents of an impending 60-day notice to vacate. Some apartment dwellers began moving out in advance, and squatters and vandals began entering vacated units that had been left unlocked. Tenants have voiced their concern to management over the unlocked units, but to no avail. Broken windows remain neglected. An empty swimming pool is unfenced. The remaining residents have growing fears about the deteriorating conditions and lack of security on the premises.

This property is managed by Atlantic and Pacific, whose office is located across the street. For more than three years, the owners of Leisure Life Apartments have proposed demolishing the existing buildings and replacing the current 245 low-to-moderate-income apartments with a complex consisting of up to 800 housing units. The new rentals would be known as Cresta Bella. The pending evictions seem to indicate that the owners are continuing to pursue that project, despite widespread community opposition, both by residents and by the local planning board, which repeatedly made suggestions for improvements to the design. The developers promised to return with modified plans, but have failed to do so.