PASADENA Projects & Updates

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From the Pasadena Star-News:

Constance Hotel restoration to kick off Colorado at Lake project in Pasadena



By Janette Williams, Staff Writer
Posted: 10/17/2010 07:04:44 AM PDT


PASADENA - Despite concerns about increased traffic and diminished air quality, city staffers will urge the Planning Commission to approve a developer's $76 million plan to renovate the historic Constance Hotel.

The commission is scheduled to hold a public hearing at 5 p.m. Wednesday in council chambers on developer Park Place Commercial's two-phase, block-long, mixed-use proposal for 880 to 940 E. Colorado Boulevard, just east of Lake Avenue.

"The (Environmental Impact Report) determined that impacts on traffic and transportation and air quality will be significant and unavoidable even after incorporation of mitigation measures," according to a city staff report. "Impacts to all other resource areas were determined to be less than significant with proposed mitigations."

If the proposal sails through the Planning Commission and City Council, restoration of the historic eight-story hotel should begin by the end of the year, an attorney for the developer said this past week.

Besides restoration of the Constance, most recently a senior care facility, Park Place Commercial plans to renovate storefronts along Colorado, construct a three-story parking garage, add on to the back of the hotel and construct a six-story office building with underground parking, according to city documents.

"The total gross area of all proposed uses is 231,711 square feet," according to the staff report.

Because the plan requires more parking that would be available as currently designed, overflow tenants will be able to park across the street at 2 N. Lake, officials said.
Park Place Commercial attorney Richard McDonald said changes in the initial proposal allow the project to preserve "all the historic retail frontage on businesses along Colorado Boulevard, and more of the historic courtyard adjacent to the hotel lobby," he said.

A handful of small businesses owners on the 900 block of East Colorado still leasing spaces on a month-to-month basis will have to move out, probably before the end of the year, McDonald said.

Read more: http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news...#ixzz12ltOy3zI

[BrighamYen]

Pasadena is so full of NIMBYs--as I've now seen first-hand as someone who goes to the City Council meetings to support projects like the IDS Playhouse Plaza--that I'm surprised ANYTHING gets built in this city. It's truly disgusting how these (usually geriatric, white, and snarky folks) accomplish to hold hostage all the City Council members by their vitriol and anti-development sensationalism surrounding traffic and pollution, as if by them fighting to maintain their suburban lifestyle isn't directly attributing to the traffic and pollution they so detest. They're so provincial, and ironically for their ages, juvenile in all their snarkiness and irrationalities.

It's just absolutely ridiculous. Makes living here (in Pasadena) less enjoyable when you're fully aware how many cancerous NIMBYs there are lurking on every block.

[BrighamYen]

Will you ride the Wilshire Purple Line subway to/from Pasadena when it opens?

More here: http://bit.ly/9Vq0Rz

[BrighamYen]

Video: What makes an urban park successful (from New York to Pasadena)?


• Video Link



Full story here: http://bit.ly/9vPBSx

[BrighamYen]

Check out the newest P.R.E. [SHOW] about the New York Deli restaurant that just opened up in Old Pasadena!


• Video Link

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DIE NIMBYS!!!

Appeals board upholds approval of Colorado at Lake project, Constance Hotel renovation

By Janette Williams, Staff Writer
Posted: 11/18/2010 03:43:39 PM PST

PASADENA - After marathon public hearing Wednesday night, the Board of Zoning Appeals upheld a decision approving the $76 million Colorado at Lake project, which includes restoration of the historic Constance Hotel.

Planning Commissioner Richard Norton, citing his concerns with the traffic impact study, was the five-member board's lone vote against approval.

Wednesday's hearing came after opponents, the Pasadena Coalition for Responsible Development, appealed a hearing officer's Oct. 20 decision to certify the final Environmental Impact Report and allow the project to go ahead.

The appeal listed "significant issues" with traffic studies in the EIR and said that "instead of meeting the affordable housing needs of households," the project would "create additional low-wage (hotel) jobs whose occupants will be in need of units."

"We're still in review of what happened last night," Rachel Torres, spokeswoman for the hotel workers union, Unite Here Local 11, said Thursday.

The union, a coalition member, paid the appeal's $3,782 filing fee.

"All options are on the table at this point," Torres said of a possible second appeal. "We can't comment until we review the decision. I think the (appeal) board had a very rigorous discussion, and I think the community weighed in on a lot of the issues."

Norton, she said, "realized there were inconsistencies in the EIR's traffic study."

Other coalition members includeMichelle White of Affordable Housing Services and Peter Dreier, director of the urban and environmental policy program at Occidental College.

At Wednesday's appeal hearing, Dreier said the development "doesn't pass the smell test," and called it "astounding" that the developers did the economic analysis; he also repeated earlier objections, saying the elderly and disabled residents of the former Pasadena Manor were unfairly evicted in 2007 by the previous owner. The 156-room Constance Hotel replacing it, he said, would provide only "poverty-level jobs."

Richard McDonald, an attorney for developers Park Place Commercial - part of Arcadia-based Singpoli Pacifica - said opponents have 10 days to file another appeal.

"We'll see, with this approval, if it will be called up or appealed to the City Council," McDonald said Thursday. "It really would be up to the project's opponents to decide whether they should appeal, having heard everything they have."

McDonald noted the City Council's unanimous vote on Monday to give the developers the right to issue up to $11.1 million in tax-exempt Recovery Zone Facility Bonds to help finance the hotel restoration.

According to a staff report, affordable housing is "not an eligible use" of the bonds, which are intended to generate construction jobs.

The developers must issue the bonds by Dec. 31, and McDonald said it will be a tight deadline.

"We hope the project opponents will now stop and let us get going, to the benefit of everyone," he said. "We hope (the opponents) will start to deal with the legal and factual realities of the project, and not appeal" the board's decision.

In the project's first phase, the Constance Hotel, its courtyard, and the one-story group of commercial buildings at 880-940 E. Colorado Blvd. would be restored, along with their long-hidden vintage facades, plus a new three-story parking garage.

The second phase includes a new six-story, mixed-use building at the southeast corner of Lake and Colorado, an underground parking garage, and a rear addition to the hotel, which may include five condominiums.

John Steinmeyer, the city planner overseeing the project, said estimates are that 630 construction jobs and 750 permanent jobs would be created in Pasadena, plus 520 additional jobs in Los Angeles County.

Park Place Commercial is a subsidiary of Arcadia-based Singpoli Pacifica LLC. The company owns 2 N. Lake Ave. and leases to the Star-News at 911 E. Colorado Blvd.

janette.williams@sgvn.com

Source:http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news...#ixzz15lMayWmE

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From the Pasadena Star News:

To develop or not to develop and where? Pasadena debate heats up
By Brenda Gazzar, Staff Writer
Posted: 11/28/2010 08:28:20 PM PST


Diane Ricard, walks around the South Lake Business district on Nov. 19. Ricard said she loves living in a "walking neighborhood," where she has access to restaurants, entertainment and shops and doing many of her errands on foot.(SGVN/Staff Photo by Eric Reed)

PASADENA - For Steve Mulheim, the thought of scaling back development in the city's center is "frightening" for him and others that live or have businesses there.

The president of the Old Pasadena Management District says he's surprised the idea is even being considered as a viable alternative for the city's future.

"Most cities try to focus their density in downtown areas, near transit hubs, trying to incentivize walkable areas (and) being able to travel without a car," he said. "That has been working the last number of years (in the central district) and we seem to be turning that backwards."

But for Christle Balvin, a member of Pasadenans for a Livable City, the central district is already overdeveloped and many of buildings built there in recent years are out of place.

"We've stopped one of the developments - the six-story awful IDS (Playhouse Plaza) project - but yes, I don't think it enhances our quality of life and they've allowed some very ugly buildings to be built" there, she said.

Following an appeal, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge struck down the $75 million retail and office IDS Playhouse Plaza development last month after ruling there were glaring omissions in the project's Environmental Impact Report.

The idea of reducing development caps in the central district and shifting capacity east and to other major corridors is one of four alternate strategies being explored to update the city's General Plan, a blueprint for future land-use decisions.

The alternatives, discussed earlier this month at a series of intense workshops, and the decisions that flow from them will help determine what the city looks like in the next 25 years. For Councilman Terry Tornek, the key lies in striking a delicate balance between various interests.

"We're walking a fine line here, between encouraging and maintaining that pedestrian experience, but at same time not exceeding that mysterious and magical density threshold, which makes people feel like we are turning into West L.A. and Santa Monica, that we've gotten too dense, too packed together and lost the charm of what makes Pasadena so special," he said.

That first alternative favors reducing commercial square footage and the number of apartments or condos now allotted to the central district, while shifting capacity elsewhere, such as major corridors like East Colorado Boulevard, North Lake Avenue, Lincoln Avenue and around the Sierra Madre Villa Metro Gold Line station.

The central district includes Old Pasadena, the Civic Center mid-town (including the Central Library, Paseo Colorado and the Convention Center), the Playhouse District and the South Lake Avenue Business District.

If ultimately pursued, this strategy could signal a significant change in policy for the city.

"I think that in the central district, just large office buildings are problematic" because of traffic congestion, said Marsha Rood, a member of General Plan Update Advisory Committee. "But I don't see as much problem with residential (units) because 80,000 jobs are here. If we are ever going to have people live close to work, you need a way to accommodate them."

Read more: http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news...#ixzz16eFzb4B5

[BrighamYen]

I don't always agree with Marsha Rood, but I do agree with what she stated in the article about the need for a circulator streetcar to serve all the residents and visitors in Pasadena.

[BrighamYen]

Check out the newest episode of my new show!

This is an interview with the owner of a new restaurant in Old Pasadena called "CREPEstudio."

Union St. in Old Pasadena has developed into a little bona fide "restaurant row" just ONE BLOCK south of the metro Gold Line Memorial Park station!

Check out the video (~4 min length)

• Video Link

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From the Pasadena Star News:


Colorado and Lake project gets final go-ahead

By Janette Williams, Staff Writer
Posted: 12/14/2010 12:18:19 PM PST

PASADENA - Final approval of the $76 million Colorado and Lake project, including restoration of the historic Constance Hotel, came at 1 a.m. Tuesday when the City Council rejected opponents' third appeal of the development.

After a marathon public hearing, the council - with Councilmembers Jacque Robinson and Terry Tornek absent - took no action, thus upholding the Board of Zoning Appeals approval on Nov. 17.

"We're very pleased that (the City Council) showed great wisdom in letting the board's decision stand," Richard A. McDonald, an attorney for developers Park Place Commercial, said Tuesday. "They showed great vision in letting the project go forward and revitalizing that part of town."

The project - which must now go through design review - includes a phase one restoration of the Constance Hotel, its courtyard, and the vintage one-story commercial buildings at 880-940 E. Colorado Blvd., plus a new three-story parking garage.

The second phase has a new six-story building at Lake and Colorado, underground parking, and a rear hotel addition, possibly with five condominiums.

The developer, part of Arcadia-based Singpoli Pacifica, agreed to a City Council request to add a surety bond indemnity to the conditions of approval, exempting the city from any related legal actions.

The appeal was the third in three months by the Pasadena Coalition for Responsible Development, which includes Unite Here Local 11 hotel workers union, Michelle White of Affordable Housing Services, and Peter Dreier, director of Occidental College's urban and environmental policy program.
Rachel Torres, a spokeswoman for the hotel-workers union, said Tuesday that they had no comment on the decision or on any possible future legal challenge.

"It was a long and arduous debate, and unfortunately some council members weren't there to weigh in," Torres said. "There was a lot at stake."

The union paid almost $8,000 to file the appeals, which were denied both by the zoning appeals board and by a hearing officer on Oct. 20.

In a packed Council Chambers Monday night, about 20 speakers commented on the project's Environmental Impact Report.

Read the rest by clicking here.

[BrighamYen]

http://bit.ly/gisf4q

[dragonsky]

Originally Posted by Pasadena Star-News

Caruso: new development agreement for Shops at Santa Anita project being finalized
By Brenda Gazzar Staff Writer
Pasadena Star-News
Posted: 01/03/2011 05:35:42 PM PST

Developer Rick Caruso said Monday he's in the process of finalizing a new deal with Santa Anita Park's owners to build an outdoor mall at the racetrack's south parking lot.

MI Developments (MID) voided a 2005 joint-venture development agreement with Caruso Affiliated in April for the 825,000-square-foot "Shops at Santa Anita" after acquiring the racetrack from Magna Entertainment Corp.

The development deal for the upscale retail, restaurant and entertainment complex was nixed as part of a reorganization plan for Magna approved by a Delaware bankruptcy court. Caruso and MID have been renegotiating since.

"Everything is moving forward and it's all coming together fine," Caruso said Monday. "It's in the process of being finalized. I think (finalization will occur) in the next few weeks."

Canadian billionaire Frank Stronach, who is MI Developments' chief executive, could not be reached Monday.

Stronach has said that the project needed some "fine-tuning."

While the project would be "similar" to what was previously envisioned, it does have some minor variations, Caruso said.

The developer declined, however, to reveal further details until the deal is finalized and Arcadia officials are briefed.

The city of Arcadia is eager to see the site developed fourteen years after commercial development was included in the racetrack's general plan, City Manager Don Penman said.

"I don't know what the economy will provide for and what the demand will be - what the size of the project will be," Penman said. "We'll have to wait and see but we're obviously excited to see something move ahead there."

Caruso said he expects the biggest challenge to come from neighboring Westfield Santa Anita Shopping Mall, which delayed the original project when it sued the city on the grounds that its Environmental Impact Report on the project was inadequate.

The California Superior Court ruled in Westfield's favor in 2008 on several counts and the city rescinded its approvals of the project. However, Westfield appealed the counts that it lost on, which further delayed the project, Penman said.

An agreement was reached last year between all of the parties and Westfield withdrew its court appeals, Penman said. However, the agreement does not prohibit either side from suing over the other's project in the future, Penman said.

"(Westfield has) challenged the project for years," Caruso said. "I assume they'll continue to do that. We have a plan to deal with it. I'm confident we'll get through it."

Westfield spokeswoman Catharine Dickey declined to comment on Monday.

Westfield has indicated its intention to renovate the former Robinsons-May building and to add a new 160,000 square foot anchor store, additional shops and a new multi-level parking structure, officials said.

"If Westfield challenges Caruso (on his project), Caruso could challenge Westfield," Penman said. "They'll both go through an (environmental impact report) process and an entitlement process with the city. You have two developers, maybe the biggest in the world, who are challenging things on (state environmental protection) issues, which is a bit odd ... It's probably one of the most common ways to delay implementation of a project."

Following Westfield's lawsuit, Caruso also sued the city over approvals it gave Westfield for additional restaurant space beyond what was initially approved for the 2009 opening of the mall's Promenade section. Westfield ended up withdrawing that element of the project.

Caruso's project, once approved and built, will likely be "trend-setting" like his other mall projects and a focal point of the San Gabriel Valley, said Arcadia City Councilman Mickey Segal.

"It's my hope and desire that Westfield gets the opportunity to develop its project and does not create obstacles for Mr. Caruso to develop his project just like Mr. Caruso has not put obstacles in front of Westfield that has prohibited them from developing their projects," Segal said.

Read more: http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news...#ixzz1A86ZrGEQ

[BrighamYen]

This is exciting news as more infill continues to make its way into the central district of Pasadena.

This restaurant is located in a new mixed-use project a block north of Pasadena City College.

If we can get more restaurants and buildings like this to infill the auto lots near PCC, we can finally create more urban coherency!


Check out my interview with the owner, Hagop:

• Video Link

[BrighamYen]

Google Map

This is such an important issue because of the location of this Ralphs being next to a very underutilized Lake Ave Gold Line station.

I am 100% certain that IF there was a better pedestrian connection to that Gold Line station, many more people would be getting on and off at this station because of the extensive shopping that exists along South Lake Avenue. But because of this suburban Ralphs, it dilutes the potential of this section of Pasadena. Wasted potential.

Read more here

[BrighamYen]

"Bike Friendly" Pasadena Needs More Basic Bike Racks...

Full story here

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From the Pasadena Star-News:

Demolition nears end at Pasadena's Constance Hotel

Janette Williams, Staff Writer
Posted: 08/24/2011 05:07:31 PM PDT


Philip Kim, director of Singpoli Pacifica, LLC, stands inside the Constance Hotel, formerly Pasadena Manor, on Tuesday. Kim is looking forward to converting the historic building into a boutique hotel. (Walt Mancini Staff Photographer)

PASADENA - Interior demolition at the New Constance Hotel, including a complete gutting of the historic 1926 building's top floors, should be finished next month, and developers said work will start immediately on converting it to a high-end boutique hotel.
The new $76-million, 136-room hotel project in the heart of the Playhouse District will be operated by Thailand-based Dusit International - its first in North America - and is expected to open in December, 2012, said Philip Y. Kim, director of developer Singpoli Pacifica LLC.

There haven't been any surprises during demolition inside the former Pasadena Manor Retirement Hotel, Kim said.

"No discoveries, it's what we expected," Kim said. "Obviously there are the unique features of the property as a whole, but there have been changes since it was built, and this will return a lot of its historic character."
The hotel building has been deemed eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, and the official process is underway, Kim said.

Most of that original character is in the lobby area and the exterior, said Peyton Hall, the Pasadena-based preservation architect for the project.

Not everyone is familiar with the building's new name, he said, but many locals recognize the landmark on the southwest corner of Colorado Boulevard and Mentor Avenue.

"They always say, 'Oh, the pink building,"' he said, adding that there's one sure thing about the exterior renovation: "It will not be pink!"

[...]

Read the rest by clicking on this.

And check this out: http://newconstancehotel.com/

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Aww, the White Hut has finally closed. I used to work right next to this place. Although I welcome the addition of Urth Caffe to Pasadena, the White Hut was a very friendly place. It's kinda sad that a small independent business is closing its doors after all these years.

From the Pasadena Star News:

White Hut on East Colorado closes its doors
By Brian Charles, Staff Writer
Posted: 09/30/2011 10:50:02 PM PDT

PASADENA - An era ended in Pasadena as the White Hut on East Colorado Boulevard closed Friday after 34 years.

Despite its size, the diner was an institution in Pasadena. It was a home away from home, a place where regulars' orders were committed to memory by owners Donna and Albert Ching.

"There are places you come to and they always feel like home," said Mark Miller, 52, of Altadena, a longtime fan of the White Hut. "They knew my dad's order."

Ed Miller, Mark's father, always ordered a bacon lettuce and tomato.

He brought his family to the White Hut once, sometimes twice, a week for more than 30 years. He said the food was great, the people even better.
"The problem here is you know a lot of the people by sight, and some by name," Ed Miller said. "But most of them, you will never see again."

Some patrons saw their favorite lunchtime diner as a victim of progress.

"If that's what you want to call it," Ed Miller added.

The new business poised to occupy the space held by the White Hut is Urth Caffe, a hipster coffee shop that serves organically grown java. Chemical-free beans appear to be in higher demand than triple cheese burgers and pastrami sandwiches, but don't tell it to the White Hut's loyal customers, some of whom were stunned by the news that their beloved eatery was closing its doors for good.

"She sent me a postcard, it just stopped me in my tracks," said Marvin Robinson, 61, of Pasadena.

The White Hut's closing ceremony, an invitation-only affair, drew dozens of longtime Pasadena residents and conjured up memories of the city's past.

"There was no Old Town (Old Pasadena), what's Old Town?" Robinson said, breaking into laughter.





Read the rest here:
White Hut on East Colorado closes its doors

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From the Pasadena Star-News:

On its 10-year anniversary, upgrade for Paseo Colorado could be in the works
By Janette Williams, Staff Writer
Posted: 10/02/2011 10:05:34 PM PDT


The Paseo Colorado, which replaced the failing and much-hated Plaza Pasadena about a decade ago, is in line for an multi million dollar facelift. Discussions are in the preliminary stages that might also include a hotel to the Civic Center site that could attract visitors to the Convention Center Wednesday, September 28, 2011. (SGVN/Staff Photo by Walt Mancini

PASADENA - Ten years ago, almost to the day, the Paseo Colorado opened with a shower of confetti, Cirque du Soleil-style acrobats and a booming Andrea Boccelli soundtrack.
Now, changes for the Paseo, which could bring a hotel and a new focus on high-end retailers, appear to be in the works.

"We've been told there's going to be some major renovation," said Michael Ross, the Pasadena Convention Center Operating Co.'s chief executive officer.

"At this point we have not been involved, but we have heard a lot of talk about what some of the changes might be," Ross said. "We're excited to see what the plans might be. A right-sized hotel would be wonderful."

The $220million Paseo replaced the fortress-like 1970s Plaza Pasadena mall - long dubbed the "Corpse on Colorado" - which was demolished in 1999.

The Paseo's "urban village" of stores, restaurants, offices and apartments covers three city blocks on Colorado Boulevard and got plaudits for reopening Pasadena's civic hub to the Civic Auditorium and Convention Center across the way on Green Street.

In 2009, the Convention Center completed a $145million expansion and renovation.

Michael I. de Leon, the Paseo's general manager and representative on the PCOC, did not respond to several requests for comment. The mall, originally developed by TrizecHahn, is now owned and operated by Ohio-based DDR Corp.
However, Ross said, the PCOC has been told plans for Paseo Colorado are coming in the "near future."

"We have a very close relationship, because they're such a big part of what we do," Ross said. "Obviously, the more people that come to the Pasadena Convention Center, the more people go to Paseo Colorado to park, shop and eat."

Mayor Bill Bogaard said a hotel within the mall's existing footprint would be an "interesting addition," and upgrades would add vitality to the civic center, plus a likely increase in tax revenues and jobs.

...

Read the rest by clicking on this.

[dragonsky]

Originally Posted by Los Angeles Times

Pasadena plans to build 2 new parks
Los Angeles Times
October 23, 2011 | 6:45 pm

Pasadena's densely packed Central District, considered “park poor” by city officials, may be getting two new parks.

The Pasadena City Council on Monday designated the projects as priorities, a necessary step to secure redevelopment funds to pay most of the estimated $24 million in construction costs.

One park is slated for the corner of Union Street and El Molino Avenue. The other, whose design features a plaza and amphitheatre but no green space, would be built on Madison Street between Colorado Boulevard and Green Street. Both sites are now city-owned surface parking lots. The projects would include the construction of parking garages under each of the parks.

A 2007 city report concluded that the Central District had a lack of green space because of a recent influx of urban housing into a historically commercial area, according to the Pasadena Sun.

Read More: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lano...%28L.A.+Now%29