Council to See Plans for New 206-Unit Development Monday Night

In an informational item tonight, the Pasadena City Council will review an application by a San Ramon-based housing developer to build two four- to five-story residential buildings with up to a total of 206 units, including 11 very-low-income units, on properties located at 444 North Fair Oaks Ave. and 425 North Raymond Ave. in Pasadena.

“The proposed multi-family project would replace all existing improvements on-site with a 226,411 square-foot, four- to five-story residential building consisting of 199 units on the property fronting Fair Oaks Avenue, and a separate 12,432 square-foot, four-story residential building with seven units on the property fronting Raymond Avenue,” according to a city staff report.

“A combination of at-grade and two levels of subterranean parking would provide up to 245 parking spaces for the project. To facilitate the multi-family development, the applicant is proposing to rezone the project site to a Planned Development (PO) zoning district.”

The council will take no action on the item tonight.

The applicant, Summerhill Apartment Community Investments, LLC, has submitted a Predevelopment Plan Review application to redevelop the site, which has an aggregate area of over two acres or almost 100,000 square feet, according to a report by the Department of Planning and Community Development.

The site’s western parcel, about 81,035 square feet in size, is located at the southeast corner of Fair Oaks Avenue and Villa Street. This parcel is zoned within the Fair Oaks/Orange Grove Specific Plan-Limited Commercial District 3, and is used by the George L. Throop Company building materials and hardware store. It consists of a retail building, a series of covered open-air storage structures, and outdoor material storage areas.

The 9,942 square-foot eastern parcel is an interior lot that fronts onto Raymond Ave., is zoned as multi-family residential, and is improved with a three-story, seven-unit apartment building.

The proposed multi-family project by SummerHill Apartments would replace all existing improvements on-site with a 226,411 square-foot, four- to five-story residential building with 199 units on the property fronting Fair Oaks Avenue, and another 12,432 square-foot, four-story residential building with seven units fronting Raymond Avenue.

The Planning Department report said 22 very low-income units represents more than 11 percent of the base units required under density bonus provisions in the Zoning Code.

The Planning Department’s report said various City departments have reviewed the project as part of the Predevelopment Plan Review process and provided their comments for the applicant to consider. The city’s Design Commission also conducted a preliminary consultation on November 12 and provided comments as well.

Since the applicant is proposing to rezone the project site from a “limited commercial” multi-family residential zone to a planned development (PD) zoning district, the proposal will still have to go through the city’s Planning Commission. The commission’s recommendation will be considered when the City Council finally deliberates to either approve, approve in modified form or disapprove the project proposal.