Palo Alto-based Page Mill
Properties' ambitious effort to buy up big swaths of East Palo Alto
neighborhoods, spruce up the apartment buildings and then raise rents
came to a swift end this fall. The company defaulted on a loan, then
abruptly closed its East Palo Alto offices, abandoning maintenance of
some 1,800 units and leaving residents fearful and uncertain whether to
pay rent.
It was a dramatic end to a turbulent chapter in East
Palo Alto history. The firm had already earned the ire of many
residents and city officials with big rent hikes that drove out many
low-income families. It was also entangled in about 10 lawsuits with
the city, which claimed Page Mill violated its rent control laws. And
it had taken a step toward trying to get its neighborhoods, which
mostly lie west of Highway 101, removed from the city's jurisdiction
entirely. The properties were ordered into receivership in September,
and the city is in talks over a possible settlement of the lawsuits.
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