OAKLAND — The owner of the San Pablo Avenue halfway house destroyed in a deadly fire a year ago has sold the building, and a lawyer is accusing the new landlord of defying a court order by hauling out debris considered evidence in a lawsuit.
Piedmont resident Keith Kim unloaded 2551 San Pablo Ave. on Jan. 25, selling it for $700,000 to WJS Property, whose CEO is San Leandro dentist William Choi, records show. A deed of trust indicates Mead Avenue Housing Associates, run by Kim, loaned WJS Property $600,000 as part of the deal.
Four people died inside the three-story apartment house on Mar. 27, 2017, in a blaze officials said started by an unattended candle. In July, the city issued a $2,293 priority lien against the property for abatement work the city did on the building post-fire.
On a recent Thursday, a Bay Area News Group reporter saw a shipping container partially filled with charred debris outside the building and construction crews sawing wood planks on the ground floor.
Over the past week, activist and documentary filmmaker April Thomas witnessed workers tearing out the main staircase, and on Friday she saw a Bobcat loader in the entryway, preparing “to take more debris out.”
Thomas, who lives across the street and is documenting fire-victim stories, notified attorneys in the civil case, according to an email. Attorney Bobby Thompson said any demolition or removal of items violates a court order in a lawsuit filed on behalf of displaced residents and victims against Kim, the city of Oakland and others.
Alameda County Superior Court Judge Brad Seligman last year ordered “no spoliation or destruction of evidence” at the building. Seligman also presides over the deadly Ghost Ship fire lawsuit and ordered the Fruitvale district artist collective and its contents preserved as evidence.
“The building is the biggest piece of evidence in the case,” said Thompson. “They are basically destroying evidence. Either they are doing it on their own, which is pretty egregious or they requested a permit from the city … the city is a party (in the suit) and they know damn well better.”
A city spokeswoman on Monday said no permits for demolition or construction have been pulled for the San Pablo Avenue building.
Choi did not return a call for comment. A spokesman for Kim’s attorney said he was unavailable for comment.
The civil litigants return to court Tuesday afternoon on the one-year anniversary of the fire.
