Antonio and Rita Castellucci, real estate investors and Napa Valley wine producers, failed to make urgent repairs to a Mission apartment building they own despite repeated enforcement actions, a lawsuit alleges.
The Mission Street building, a block from La Taqueria, has been in a dangerous condition for years, violating health and safety codes, the city attorney’s office says in the lawsuit, filed Thursday. It’s also an earthquake risk in need of urgent repairs.
The Castelluccis have failed to address extensive code violations at the mixed-use residential and commercial building at 2970-2974 Mission St., despite repeated notices and orders from city inspectors dating back to 2018. The city argues that the property, which has been vacant since a July 2020 fire, poses a public safety risk and blights the neighborhood.
City Attorney David Chiu is seeking court intervention to force the landlords to make repairs, along with civil penalties that could reach thousands of dollars per day for each violation.
The Castelluccis bought the three-story, six-unit property in 1999 for $679,000, according to public records. The building, constructed in 1907, has been cited by inspectors for severe blight, including broken windows, graffiti, and accumulated trash.
Attempts to reach the Castelluccis and their attorneys were unsuccessful.
The Department of Building Inspection has issued at least six violation notices and four abatement orders since 2018, citing seismic safety concerns, fire damage, and failure to comply with other city rules for vacant properties. The seismic retrofitting requirements were due in 2020, but the couple has never submitted a permit application for the work, according to the lawsuit. Inspectors also found the building’s central fire alarm system to be inoperable, posing a safety risk.
Before the 2020 fire, the building had 15 tenants in the six apartments. There were two ground-floor businesses, Litni’s Fashion Boutique and Zaya Nail Spa.
“The property at 2970 Mission is a blight on the neighborhood. It is seismically unsafe and has required a retrofit since 2018. The Castelluccis abandoned care of the property, which led to an accumulation of trash and graffiti,” a spokesperson for the city attorney’s office said. “After a fire in 2020, the Castelluccis failed to remedy any of the fire damage or fire safety issues. Their inaction on these issues is all the more inexcusable since they are experienced real estate managers and investors.”
The Castelluccis own Home Realty Investments, a property management firm founded in 1972. Its website says it owns more than 60 buildings and 350 apartments in San Francisco.
“We are unique in that we manage all our own investments & treat each one as our own,” the firm states.
Antonio, a registered Democrat, and Rita, a registered Republican, own a five-bedroom home on Belvedere Island’s Pelican Road worth almost $9 million, according to a Zillow estimate.
He also owns at least 28 properties in the St. Helena area: homes, vineyards, luxury inns, and commercial buildings, according to a 2018 profile in Haute Living magazine. The family also owns some 50 acres of Napa Valley vineyards in Spring Mountain, Rutherford, Carneros, and St. Helena, according to the Castellucci Napa Valley website.
Antonio serves on the board of directors of the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame and Festival Napa Valley.
The Castellucci’s wine company was founded in 2012 and produces nine wines priced between $45 and $250.