The first five historic homes in South Pasadena once owned by Caltrans are set to return to the market today, with open houses planned for the coming week, a city-contracted real estate agent said Monday.

The properties were officially transferred to the city when escrow closed on Sept. 17, the Dave Knight Real Estate Team said. This announcement follows a four-month delay after Caltrans abruptly halted the sale when the real estate agent first listed the properties, noting that the sale must wait until it gets the approval of the California Transportation Commission. This time, though, the state agency said the transaction with the city has been finalized.

“I know that the California Transportation Commission approved the sale of five homes to the city of South Pasadena,” Caltrans spokesperson Lauren Wonder said when reached by phone on Monday afternoon. “I believe that escrow has closed.”

The five homes were among hundreds seized by Caltrans more than six decades ago through eminent domain to clear a path for the now defunct 710 Freeway extension, a project that displaced thousands of residents and homes.

“We are very excited to be opening the doors again to these time-honored properties in South Pasadena,” David Way, David Knight Real Estate Team CEO, said in a statement. “With these properties now fully-accessible, we have spent the past several days getting them ready for our showcases to prospective buyers. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for buyers to acquire these homes, and help restore and return them to their original glory.”

When reached by the phone Monday afternoon, Way told the Southern California News Group that his agency received some interest from buyers, but it declined significantly after people realized the process was going to take a while.

The five properties now on the market include four single-family homes and a multi-family lot. The single-family homes are a two-bedroom, one-bath home at 216 Fairview Ave.; a three-bedroom, 2 1/4-bath home at 217 Fremont Ave.; a four-bedroom, two-bath home at 225 Fremont Ave.; and a two-bedroom, one-bath home at 1707 Meridian Ave.

The fifth property, at 726 Meridian Ave., is a spacious multi-family lot situated just a few blocks from South Pasadena’s main retail area. It features three bungalows, two with one bedroom and one bath each, and one with two bedrooms and one bath.

All of the homes showcase authentic design elements from a bygone era, featuring Craftsman-bungalow, Spanish-revival and midcentury-modern styles, the real estate agent said, adding that the open house will be announced this week.

The homes will be sold at today’s market rate with the proceeds used to create affordable housing in the city, South Pasadena’s officials previously told the Star-News.

This was made possible by the Roberti Act and Senate Bill 381, authored by Sen. Anthony Portantino, D-Burbank, and signed into law by the governor in September 2021, which allow the city of South Pasadena to buy vacant homes from Caltrans at the original acquisition prices from the 1960s.

The city can then sell the homes at market value, but the proceeds must be reinvested in affordable housing. In addition, for every historic home sold, the city is required to create three affordable housing units.

This milestone comes after a long-fought battle by South Pasadena and other communities across the San Gabriel Valley.

To construct a 6.3-mile extension of the 710 Freeway, which stretches from the Port of Los Angeles to its northern end near Alhambra at Valley Boulevard, Caltrans acquired around 450 homes in the 1960s across El Sereno, South Pasadena and Pasadena. However, the city of South Pasadena, along with environmental groups, successfully blocked the project through legal challenges in the 1970s and 1980s.

Later, Caltrans proposed an alternative plan to extend the freeway by building an underground tunnel connecting the 210 and 134 freeways. Despite this effort, the extension project was ultimately scrapped in November 2018 by L.A. Metro, Caltrans and the state secretary of transportation.

After the project’s official cancellation, a string of historic houses were left in the area, many of which remain occupied by tenants who pay rent to Caltrans, but when tenants died or were evicted, Caltrans often left the properties vacant rather than renting them to new occupants.

In July 2023, Pasadena considered acquiring 17 vacant single-family homes under Senate Bill 959, a law requiring the state to sell vacant homes from the failed 710 Freeway project back to the city to promote affordable housing. On Sept. 16, the Pasadena City Council unanimously approved the purchase and sale agreements with Caltrans for these 17 homes.