CURRENT ISSUES
AVON PRODUCTS BUILDING / HOME DEPOT
Updated on November 21, 2019
Our landmark nomination of the historic 1947 Avon office building, designed by the renowned LA-based architect Stiles O. Clements, was approved by unanimous decision by the City Council. This decision does not conflict with Home Depot's plans for the site, as the historic portion of the building is located on the northeast corner of the campus. Home Depot supported the nomination and is currently seeking a tenant for the historic office building, which is zoned "R&D Flex" allowing for a wide mix of uses.
Pasadena Heritage's landmark nomination can be downloaded here.
COLORADO STREET BRIDGE BARRIER
Updated on November 21, 2019
Concepts for a new suicide barrier for the Colorado Street Bridge were presented to the Historic Preservation Commission for their review and comment on Tuesday. Pasadena Heritage staff and Advocacy Committee members have been actively involved in reviewing possible solutions. A taller vertical fence is the preferred approach, but the design of the fence, its positioning and style, are still under debate. We have urged the creation of several full scale mock-ups to better judge the options, and are pleased to know that they will created in the near-term. The design team will present to the Design Commission next Tuesday, November 26th.
Please go to the City's website for additional information: https://www.cityofpasadena.net/public-works/engineering-and-construction/construction/colorado-street-bridge/
MORATORIUM ON DEMOLITION OF ELIGIBLE RESOURCES
Updated on November 21, 2019
After many years of inaction on the issue, the City Council unanimously approved a moratorium on the demolition and "major projects" affecting eligible, but undesignated, historic resources. A first reading of the ordinance was conducted, and a second reading is scheduled for Monday, November 25th, after which the law would go into effect. The moratorium will allow time for the Planning Department to review Pasadena's current ordinances and consider updates that would better protect historic resources under threat.
SWANSON & PETERSON FURNITURE FACTORY
Updated on November 21, 2019
Just south of the new Home Depot site, Rusnak and Porsche are proposing a new car dealership. We are concerned about the historic building at 96 N. Sunnyslope Ave., which would be demolished under current plans. Although this modest brick factory building may look unassuming, it was the long-time location of the Swanson & Peterson furniture company, run by two Scandinavian-born woodworkers that were critical to the Craftsman Era, and transitioned into furniture production in the Modern Era. We presented some of our findings to the City Council and were pleased that several Councilmembers shared concerns about demolishing the building.
CALIFORNIA STATE HISTORIC TAX CREDIT 451
Updated on November 21, 2019
In a major win for historic homeowners, preservationists, and tradespeople who work on historic properties, California finally passed its own State Historic Tax Credit, becoming the 36th state to do so. The bill unlocks $50 million worth of tax credits each year for qualified rehabilitation expenditures on properties listed on the California Register. Our allies at the California Preservation Foundation spearheaded the advocacy campaign, and Pasadena Heritage signed on to the push along with other preservation and architecture nonprofits in California. We were especially excited to see groups such as the AIA California Chapter and APA California support it as well. Due to the the sheer number of California Register-listed properties in Pasadena, this bill could spur many preservation-sensitive repair and rehabilitation projects across the city. Pasadena Heritage will work to provide information about the new program to interested homeowners, and we hope to incorporate it into our Spring 2020 Mills Act / Tax Credit Workshop.
Pasadena Heritage’s Letter of Support can be downloaded here.
FULLER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
Updated on November 21, 2019
In May 2018, Fuller Theological Seminary announced the sale of its 13-acre Pasadena campus, its home since 1947, and said it plans to relocate to Pomona. The multidenominational evangelical graduate institution's campus includes the Ford Place Historic District, open space, and various institutional, multi-family residential, and office buildings. Pasadena Heritage is concerned about the future of the campus, and we are interested in seeing the historic buildings preserved and adaptively reused in a sensitive manner. We also see the campus as a critically important central Pasadena place that requires careful planning. We hosted a meeting on September 12, 2018 to capture ideas, wishes, and concerns from community stakeholders and immediate neighbors and have formulated some recommendations to share with the City and other applicable parties. Earlier this month it was reported that Fuller will not be selling the campus, and plan to remain in Pasadena.
540 S. LAKE AVE.
Updated on November 21, 2019
A five story mixed-use project has been proposed on an irregularly shaped parcel made up of four combined lots, with street frontages on South Lake Ave., Granite Drive, and East California Blvd. Just east of the project site is the National Register-listed English Cottage Revival Mentor Court. With 62 residential units, 9,885 square feet of commercial space, and 157 parking spaces, the project as proposed is massively overscaled. It dwarfs the historic bungalow court and even manages to overshadow the contemporary Granite Park Place condominiums to its east. Pasadena Heritage is working with Granite Park Place’s HOA to advise on their advocacy efforts. In another troubling development, Mentor Court was listed for sale. The project is in hold due to zoning inconsistencies.
Pasadena Heritage's letter to the City Council can be downloaded here.
127-141 N. MADISON AVE.
Updated on September 17, 2019
Pasadena Heritage, the Women's City Club of Pasadena, and the Blinn House Foundation filed an appeal to the City Council, asking for reconsideration of an approval granted by the Board of Zoning Appeals for a large housing and office project. Bordered on the west by the Ford Place National Register Historic District (Fuller campus), and on the south and east by the Playhouse Historic District, this development site required that careful consideration be given to adjacent historic resources. The original proposal called for a five-story project that was too tall, too bulky, and had underground parking from lot line to lot line with no room for saving or planting trees.
After extensive negotiations with the developer and city planning staff while waiting for the appeal to be heard, a significantly revised project emerged that included real mitigations for the adjacent historic resources. With those changes, Pasadena Heritage and its co-appellants agreed that the project addressed the most urgent preservation concerns. The actual architectural design of the project remains an open question but must achieve compatibility with its surroundings. We plan to work with the developer on design issues before the project goes to the Design Commission for concept review. The many letters of support for our position really helped make our case!
Larger questions of how the city evaluates projects seeking a CEQA exemption, how the design review process works, and how the mixed-use zoning designation is problematic, were raised and taken seriously by the council during the lengthy hearing. We will continue to work on those issues going forward.
Pasadena Heritage's appeal can be downloaded here.
The City Staff Report from the previous appeal hearing can be downloaded here.
Pasadena Heritage's letter to the City Council can be downloaded here.
STATE SENATE BILLS 4 & 50
Updated on June 28, 2019
Earlier this year, two bills made their way through the California State Senate that would change the provisions behind Transit Oriented Development (TOD) statewide. SB 4 (McGuire) and SB 50 (Wiener) would have provided incentives and streamlined development processes for TOD projects in order to stimulate more housing production. The need for housing additional housing is great, but these efforts can have adverse effects on historic resources. This version of the bill was highly problematic, but was suspended until 2020. Moving forward, Pasadena Heritage is working with the California Preservation Foundation and other local preservation nonprofits to ask that extra preservation protections be included in this bill. One request is that properties that are eligible for a national, state, or local register be protected, as there are many identified eligible properties in Pasadena. Another request is to restrict the granting of density bonuses within historic districts, preventing the construction of out-of-scale high-density housing in historic neighborhoods.
Pasadena Heritage sent a letter requesting rejection or amendments to SB 50. It can be downloaded here.
Pasadena Heritage co-signed a letter requesting amendments with other California preservation nonprofits, it can be downloaded here.
Pasadena Heritage’s recommendations for the future of the campus can be downloaded here.
101 S. MARENGO AVE. (BANK OF AMERICA)
Updated on June 28, 2019
In late May, Bank of America announced that it will vacate its corporate offices in the Edward Durell-Stone-designed building at 101 S. Marengo Ave., which it has occupied since the building's original construction in 1974. At this time, the future of the property is unknown. Bordering the Civic Center and Old Pasadena, this elegant, monumental, and windowless box clad with travertine, exemplifies the Corporate Modern style and appears eligible for designation as a local Landmark. The architect also designed the Stuart Pharmaceutical Building (3360 E. Foothill Blvd.) in 1958 and Beckman Auditorium (332 S. Michigan Ave.) on the Caltech campus in 1963. The property is currently used for a credit card serving operation, as well as human resources and business lending. The owner has presented designs to the Design Commission on three separate occasions, and met with a working group of Pasadena Heritage staff and board members. Pasadena Heritage recognizes the need for windows to make this building suitable for occupation, but insists that final design respects the monumentality of the original structure while retaining much of the travertine cladding.
3200 E. FOOTHILL BLVD. (SPACE BANK SITE)
Updated on June 28, 2019
Trammell Crow has submitted a Planned Development (PD) application for a large mixed-use project at the existing Space Bank self-storage site. A Sustainable Communities Environmental Assessment (SCEA) was released for the project in February, and the comment period concluded in March. The U.S. Navy historically used this large property for Cold War-era weapons research. Many original buildings and structures remain, including a 70-foot tall torpedo-testing tank. The property has been found eligible as an historic district; however, due to contamination and the infeasibility of adaptive reuse, most of the site will be cleared. Working with Pasadena Heritage, the developer agreed to retain some artifacts and the monumental torpedo-testing tank, and to place them on the site where they will be part of the public spaces. There will also be an interpretive program that will convey the history of the site. The project has received Final Design Approval, though there were additional concerns about hazardous material remediation at the site. The City is currently working with the developer and state agencies to address these concerns as the project moves forward.
86 S. FAIR OAKS AVE. (HOTEL GREEN/CASTLE GREEN)
Updated on July 19, 2018
A major mixed-use project proposed for the southwest portion of the block that includes the Castle Green and Green Hotel Apartments is once again being redesigned. Originally developed in several phases by entrepreneur Colonel George Gill Green (1842-1925), beginning in 1893, this is one of Pasadena’s most iconic historic properties, and it is listed on the National Register. It is also within the Old Pasadena National Register Historic District. Pasadena Heritage also holds an historic preservation easement on the Castle Green. As such, we are deeply concerned about this project and have followed it very closely through numerous iterations. Architectural Resources Group (ARG) prepared the latest set of plans for Goldrich Kest (also owner of the Green Hotel) and presented them at City Council for informational purposes on January 22. That iteration was the largest and densest to date, with three interconnected buildings including approximately 8,000 square feet of commercial space, 87 apartments, and 4 work-live units. Pasadena Heritage and numerous members of the public expressed concern that the project did not demonstrate compatibility with the historic buildings and their surroundings. ARG has gone back to the drawing board and is in the process of preparing a new set of plans, and we will provide an update when they are released.
464 E. WALNUT ST. (FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF PASADENA/UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST)
Updated on July 19, 2018
In February, the First Congregational Church of Pasadena (United Church of Christ) sold its historic church building. The Gothic Revival edifice was constructed in 1927 and is eligible for designation as a local landmark. The congregation has not moved out yet; it is currently renting the historic building and continuing to hold worship services and events in it while searching for a new location. Pasadena Heritage understands that the new owner plans to locally designate and adaptively reuse the building, and enter into a Historic Property Contract Program (Mills Act) contract with the City. A landmark application and Mills Act application have indeed been submitted to the City, and we expressed support for the Landmark designation. We have plans to meet with the new owner soon to learn more.
150 E. COLORADO BLVD. ("DARTH VADER BUILDING" SITE)
Updated on July 19, 2018
A large mixed-use project designed by Moule & Polyzoides is proposed for the entire block along E. Colorado Blvd. and between N. Arroyo Pkwy. And S. Marengo Ave. The site is situated at a critical juncture between the Old Pasadena Historic District and the Civic Center Financial Historic District and is presently improved with a non-historic office building built in 1980 and sometimes called the “Darth Vader” Building because of its black glass exterior. Members of Pasadena Heritage’s Advocacy Committee reviewed preliminary plans in March and found the new project to be compatible with its surroundings, overall. Though a large project, the massing and architectural design and articulation are appealing and context-sensitive. It will also clearly come to and positively address the street, which the current building does not, thus re-establishing the pedestrian experience along Colorado Boulevard. The project went before the Design Commission at its June 26 meeting for Preliminary Consultation, and Pasadena Heritage submitted a letter expressing support and providing a few suggestions on how to improve its contextual relationship.
CIVIC CENTER TASK FORCE
Updated on July 19, 2018
The Task Force met several times since its formation in July 2017 to discuss what should happen to the YMCA and YWCA blocks, as well as Centennial Plaza and its immediate vicinity. In May, the Task Force approved final recommendations for presentation to the City Council regarding setbacks, open space, building height, land use, and public improvements in the National Register-listed Civic Center. Unable to agree on the appropriate next steps, the Council directed staff to return with more information. The most debated items at the Council meeting were the setback for any new buildings across from City Hall and the need for more economic analysis. The matter will be heard again in the next two to three months. City staff is gathering more information to present for clarification. Pasadena Heritage remains concerned about the Julia Morgan-designed YWCA building, which is currently vacant and in need of rehabilitation, and we have asked the City Manager and Public Works Director for more information about how the building can be better “mothballed” during the interim.
Click to download Pasadena Heritage's Comments on the Task Force's Recommendations
Please go to the City's website for additional information and to download the Task Force’s Recommendations: https://ww5.cityofpasadena.net/planning/civic-center-task-force/
