Council Will Hear Plans for 3-6 Story Development to Span Entire Block Along Green Street between Hudson and Oak Knoll Avenues

Pasadena’s Department of Planning and Community Development will present an information-only report to the City Council Monday night about a proposed new three- to six-story mixed-use building on the block bounded by 740 through 790 East Green Street, 118 South Oak Knoll Avenue and 111 South Hudson Avenue in Pasadena.

The project would include demolishing five existing commercial buildings, one of which includes longtime popular eatery Tarantino’s Pizzeria, 784 E. Green Street.

The developer is Stanford Pasadena LLC.

The project site consists of six lots with a total size of approximately 101,430 square feet or 2.33 acres, currently occupied by the five office buildings ranging from single to multi-story.

According to the proposal, now under Preliminary Plan Review, the project will involve the demolition of five existing commercial buildings on the site, including the building that houses Tarantino’s Pizzeria, and on-grade parking improvements to allow for the construction of the new 304,836 square-foot building that will eventually containing 273 for-rent residential units, including 30 units designated for very low-income households, 19,660 square feet of commercial space, and a two-level subterranean parking garage with 453 parking spaces.

The planning department said the site is within the CD-4 (Central District, Pasadena Playhouse sub-district) zoning district.

According to the City’s Zoning Code, the Preliminary Plan Review phase of the approval process is intended to establish early consultation between City staff and projects applicants, so applicants can be familiar with the regulations and procedures that apply to their proposed and thereby avoid significant investment in the design of a project without preliminary input from City staff.

The process also helps to identify issues that may arise during processing of the application, such as community concerns and consistency with City regulations and policies.

The Zoning Code also specifies that projects that are of “community-wide significance,” that is, greater than 50,000 square feet in size with at least one discretionary action, 50 or more housing units, or any project deemed as such by the Department Planning and Community Development, should be presented to the City Council to inform Council members and the public of such significant upcoming projects and provide them an opportunity to assess the project and provide input.

Incidentally, just across the street, on the northeast corner of East Green Street and South Oak Knoll Avenue, another large multi-story project could soon go up, changing the face of the area altogether, with two high-rise structures soon facing each other across Green Street.

In September, the City’s Design Commission started reviewing a proposal to build a seven-story 80,000 square-foot mixed-use building which will have 72 residential units. The site is currently a 22,776-square-foot surface parking lot.

The developer, represented by Pasadena-based Odyssey Development Services, is taking advantage of the City’s high-density bonus which allows it to build 72 units, as long as 11 percent of these – equivalent to six units – will be classified as “very low-income” housing.

As an information item on the agenda, the proposal does not require any action during Monday’s City Council meeting.