Two-Hotel Colorado Hill Development Approved by Planning Commission Wednesday Night

Following a unanimous vote by the City of Pasadena Planning Commission, the proposed Colorado Hill Hotel project has moved closer to fruition with a two-building project that will revitalize and transform the immediate neighborhood directly west of Pasadena City College.

The commission certified the final Environmental Impact Report on two parcels to move the project towards an eventual appearance before the City Council.

The project is only the latest of its kind to move forward, as a total of five new hotel projects are currently slated for development. (The new Marriott Residence Inn quietly opened its doors this week, and hosts a formal grand opening event tonight.)

The new Colorado Hill project, developed by J&K Plus Investments, will sit on the former site of the Robert H. Loud Ford dealership. Two buildings—a north parcel and a south parcel—will face each other across Colorado Boulevard at Holliston. The north parcel will house a 350,000 square-foot, 375-room hotel with a full ballroom and conference rooms, as well as ground level shops and stores. The smaller south parcel, as proposed, will house a 150-room hotel with stores and shops in a 90,000 total square-foot footprint.

“This is going to be transformational for that area,” said the developer’s attorney,  Richard McDonald. “It’s also going to create an anchor. You’ve got the Lake and Colorado project already, the Constance Hotel, and now you put this one on Hill and Colorado, so it should help revitalize the entire boulevard from Lake to Hill.”

McDonald continued, “It should transform that area of the East Colorado Specific Plan, not only in terms of just those sites and immediate neighborhoods, but also in terms of PCC and everything to the east, so this is really very exciting.”

Much of the commission discussion centered around the proposed use of the south parcel, which according to the developer’s proposal is intended to be used as a hotel but could possibly become housing for PCC students. McDonald and some members of the commission said they believed the project would be more successful as a hotel property.

Commission Chair Greg Jones voiced concerns about the height of the building and the impact it might have, rising up out of what is essentially a residential neighborhood populated by fast food restaurants and auto body shops. Jones, eventually went along with commission’s recommendation to approve the project.

The commission also voiced concerns over the “pedestrian experience” and the pool hours, which were moved from opening at 5 a.m. to a “more reasonable” 6 a.m.

The south parcel project was approved 8-1.

The north parcel hotel would sit next to the historic F. Suie One Company at the corner of Colorado and Holliston. The store is one of Southern California’s oldest businesses, first opened in Sacramento in 1881 by an immigrant named Fong See. The company sold women’s silk undergarments from China and eventually expanded to sell a host of Chinese antiquities.

Following the 1971 Sylmar earthquake, the shop moved from its Downtown Los Angeles location to Pasadena. The store and its historic building will remain intact and are not part of the new project’s plans.