Two San Fernando Valley-area companies emerged last week with ties to the 10 Freeway segment south of downtown Los Angeles that was shut down after being damaged in a pallet fire earlier this month.
Calabasas-based Apex Development Inc. leased the land underneath the freeway upon which state officials said the fire started in the early morning hours of Nov. 11.
According to state officials in media reports, Apex Development had stopped making lease payments and was subleasing the parcel to several entities, alledgely without authorization from the landlord, the California Department of Transportation. Media reports also said Apex Development and its owner, Ahmad Nowald, have leased at least four other parcels from Caltrans underneath or adjacent to freeways.
A call into Apex Development was met with a “mailbox full” message.
On the repair side, Westlake Village-based Security Paving Co. Inc. was one of two initial contractors put to work on the site within 24 hours of the fire. The other was Brea-based Griffith Co.
This is not the first time that Security Paving has worked to repair the 10 Freeway. About 10 miles to the west, the company was part of the contractor team that rebuilt a portion of the freeway that collapsed during the 1994 Northridge earthquake.