Highland Park business faces eviction after private equity buys their building
A Highland Park small business owner faces eviction after a real estate investment company bought her building last month.
Silvia Flores' Junior's Discount Party Supply, a neighborhood staple along Highland Park's York Boulevard, offers party rentals, household goods and even money transfers for families sending funds back home.
"This is my life," Flores said in Spanish. "I was fulfilled here because I had my business, which is what I always wanted."
She spent 20 years building her store up from the ground up. She said she never violated her lease or fell behind on rent, and that she maintained a good relationship with her landlord. That's why she was caught off guard when she received a letter on May 22 informing her that the building had been sold.
"This is a surprise because the owner always used to come by, and he always said he was not going to sell," Flores said.
Nearly two weeks later in June, Flores and four other business owners received eviction notices stating that their last day as tenants in the building would be Aug. 7. Right now, Flores is the only one who is fighting to stay put.
The Los Angeles Tenants Union identifies the new building owner as Dr. Donald Abrahm of Newport Beach, and his real estate investment company, AEA Investments VIII.
Since the news, community members have assembled to help by making banners to hang in front of the store. Meanwhile, a petition to keep Junior's open has amassed nearly 700 signatures, and a fundraising page has raised close to $5,000.
"This is coming from a place of power that the LA Tenants Union has been building in this neighborhood for years," said Vee Serna, an organizer at LA Tenants Union. "We have those relationships and that trust from the community to take on something like this."
While the eviction is legal, Serna and his colleagues are pressuring the new owner to sit down and negotiate terms for Flores before reaching the 60-day deadline.
Flores hopes this entire effort echoes beyond just her storefront.
"If we never fight and never raise our voice, they will always do the same to us," Flores said. "Not just to me, to everyone."
Abrahm and the AEA Investments VIII have not responded to CBS LA for comment.
