$32 Million Pasadena Homeless Housing Complex On Track to Be Completed By May

The Diane and John Mullin Hope Center, a 65-unit housing project for homeless individuals under construction just east of Lake Avenue at 1000 E. Walnut St. in Pasadena, is currently on track to be completed by May 2023.

“The Hope Center is on track and all four floors have been framed and drywall has been put up and the roof is on,” Major Roy Wild, Corps Officer of the Salvation Army in Pasadena, said this week. “So each floor is about a month ahead of schedule at this point in construction.”

The Salvation Army Pasadena Tabernacle broke ground on the roughly $32-million permanent supportive housing project in October 2021. The 65 units would all be single-room occupancy, other than the manager’s unit, above about 2,600 square feet of office space for service providers. Plans also call for a 15-car parking lot at the rear of the site.

Residents of the proposed building are to be single adults who meet the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s definition of “homeless,” according to a motion from Supervisor Kathryn Barger which the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors adopted in October 2021. Fifteen of the units will be reserved for veterans, Wild said.

“I think the Hope Center is a great opportunity that the Salvation Army has to be able to serve the homeless population here in Pasadena,” Wild said. “The Hope Center wouldn’t really have come to fruition if it wasn’t for the partnership with the City of Pasadena and the support of donors here in Pasadena. And it’s a great opportunity for us to be able to provide housing and assistance for individuals that are in desperate need of it here within our community.”

Carde Ten Architecture and Consulting in Culver City designed the project which will mix Art Deco architecture with contemporary design. Plans show a low-rise building with a white-stucco exterior, with residential amenities such as a yoga room, a courtyard, a library, and multiple outdoor decks.

The 65 supportive housing units will be on the second, third and fourth floors of the Hope Center. The first floor will house Salvation Army Social Services operations and include program space for emergency assistance and casework. The centerpiece will be a new client-choice food pantry where clients, accompanied by a volunteer or staff member, can select their own groceries.

The Hope Center is named after Diane and John Mullin, who first began bellringing for the Salvation Army in 1993, and in 2021 gave a sizable gift for the Hope Center project; While John Mullin tends to his lumber and development business, Diane hopes to be able to be on-site to help facilitate some of the cooking classes for the new residents when the Hope Center opens.

“They’ve been supporting The Salvation Army in Greater Pasadena for more than three decades,” said Robin Dunn, divisional director of Corporations, Foundations and Special Projects for The Salvation Army California South Division, in 2021. “With a heart for helping homeless adults and families, their gift will transform the community and provide housing for our neighbors.”

Funding for the Hope Center is on track, too.

In October the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved $18.7 million in Multifamily Housing Revenue Bonds for the project.

Earlier the Salvation Army obtained a $1 million loan from the City’s Housing Successor Low Income Housing Asset Fund to help pay for the project.

The Salvation Army said in 2021 said they anticipated $10 million of the required funding coming from private sources, including donations,

To learn more about the Diane and John Mullin Hope Center, visit www.pasadenahopecenter.com.