City Officials, Activists React to City Council Decision to “Pause” YWCA Kimpton Civic Center Project

Following Monday night’s 5-2 City Council decision to “pause” KHP III’s proposed Kimpton Hotel project, City officials, activists and a number of Pasadena’s civic organizations are looking at alternatives to the City’s desire to rehabilitate and preserve the historic Julia Morgan-designed YWCA building at the Pasadena Civic Center.

The decision to halt the project was made after KHP requested an economic subsidy plan to receive 50 years of free rent along with 136 City-owned parking spaces for the duration of the entire lease, so that they could continue with the project.

Pasadena Mayor Terry Tornek told Pasadena Now Tuesday he understands the City Council’s reluctance to move ahead, but he doesn’t see any other viable alternative other than to continue with the KHP proposal.

“The important thing to understand about the subsidies that are being required is that they weren’t out-of-pocket costs; we weren’t actually going to spend any money,” Tornek said. “What we will be is not collecting rent on a site that we’re not collecting rent on already, and we were going to give them the access to 100 plus parking spaces at a time of the day when they’re empty.”

Tornek also said he was not surprised about the report that construction costs have gone up considerably since KHP submitted the proposal about four years ago.

“The big costs relate to all construction projects in SoCal,” Tornek noted. “The big increase wasn’t this last piece between August of 2016 and today; the big increase happened a year before that as construction prices started to really escalate in the region.”

Councilmember Victor Gordo, who made the amended motion to pause the project Monday night, said KHP will have to come up with a more complete explanation of the increased costs, adding he was surprised that the developers were asking for economic subsidies.

“All of these issues that were raised last night seemed to me that they should have been a part of the original proposal,” Gordo said. “You can’t come into Pasadena and say you’re going to renovate a historic structure across the street from City Hall, one of the most sensitive locations in the City, and not contemplate that you’ll have to use high quality materials.”

For Gordo, the 64 percent increase in construction costs since 2013 was ambiguous. He said some of the other options include going back to the other proponents who responded the Request for Proposals in 2013, and looking at possible public use of the YWCA building. He added he would be willing to speak with the Pasadena Unified School District about the possibility of partnering with the City and developing the site.

For Mayor Tornek, converting the YWCA for public use is a “real bad idea.”

“The building doesn’t lend itself to efficient office use and would cost us money instead of earning us money,” Tornek said. “So I think both economically and physically that’s a bad idea. And the other alternative, the most likely alternative, would be another residential project, and frankly with the preponderance of residential projects that we’re having now, it doesn’t really excite me.”

Tornek also doesn’t agree that any of the other project proponents in 2013 would be ready to participate in a new Request for Proposal round if the City ever decides on that.

“Frankly, watching what Kimpton has gone through for the past couple years, having this project under contract and given the level of public controversy surrounding anything having to do on that site, if you were a developer, would you be anxious to throw your hat in the ring and spend a lot of time developing an RFP? I’m not sure,” said Tornek.

Councilmember John Kennedy, who represents the District where the project is located, believes the KHP project could still continue even with the temporary delay.

“This is not an easy development,” Kennedy said. It has always been a complex development, and I think we are wisely going a little bit slow right now to make sure that everything pencils out and that the city proper is getting the best deal for what it has brought to the project.”

Councilmember Margaret McAustin, who has been supportive of the Kimpton Hotel proposal, said the City should be ready to look for other options at rehabilitating the YWCA building while at the same time preserving the iconic value of the Pasadena Civic Center.

“I don’t know if the Kimpton deal will work out in the end or not,” McAustin said. “They’re a strong operator, they’re a very good fit in Pasadena, but the economics may just not be there, and it would put us in a real bind, we’re going to have to find another way to protect and preserve the YWCA and look at other options.”

Speaking on behalf of the Pasadena Civic Center Coalition, Jonathan Edewards of the Downtown Pasadena Neighborhood Association, said he was glad the City Council has finally acknowledged the Kimpton Hotel project was “a disappointing design.”

“There’s significant reluctance to provide a public subsidy to a private hotel developer that’s already doing so much damage to our Civic Center,” Edewards said. “I hope that the decision was to explore other uses, including municipal use. I think that’s what really needs to be here. It needs to be a Civic Center, it needs to be a Civic use. I think there’s all sorts of really interesting ideas that were never really looked into.”