Lincoln Properties Local Hiring Quota Could Be Focus of Public Hearing at Monday’s City Council Meeting

The City Council on Monday is scheduled to hold a public hearing on proposed amendments to a development agreement on a project that has fallen far short of its local hiring and local participation quotas.

Lincoln Properties is building 10 West Walnut, a 210,000-square-foot, five-story mixed-use project that includes 400 residential units and three levels of below-grade parking on the campus of the Parsons building in Old Pasadena.

In a development agreement, Lincoln Properties agreed to give priority hiring consideration to local workers and businesses. The commitment included 20 percent local hires, 20 percent local contracting, and 15 percent local sourcing of materials. 

The developers also agreed to explore opportunities for mentoring and apprenticeships for participants so that the project would serve as a training ground and springboard for future employment and contracting opportunities for Pasadena residents.

Last February, Pasadena Now reported that 200 people attended a job fair held by the developers. At that time, the local quotas were nowhere near the commitment laid out in the development agreement. Only 43 of the more than 3,000 workers hired for the project were Pasadena residents, according to a recent city staff report.

The project is located in City Council District 3, which is represented by Councilmember John Kennedy. Kennedy has called several times for a review of local hiring on the project.

In January, after asking another developer to reaffirm his local hiring/participation commitment, Kennedy said efforts by Lincoln Properties to hire locally were an “abysmal failure.”

According to city documents, the purpose of the project is to transform a suburban-style campus with centralized buildings and expansive surface parking into “a pedestrian-oriented development with mix uses.”

The project went before the city Hearing Officer in October to determine whether the applicant “has complied in good faith with the terms and conditions of the Development Agreement, specifically Section 10 (l).” That section lays out the local hiring initiative between the developer and the city. 

Officials with the company did not respond to an email Thursday seeking comment on this. 

When previously contacted by Pasadena Now in October, the developers said, “Our team is currently putting together the next report for the project, which addresses the questions you laid out. It should be available in about a month. We will circle back at that time.”

The company never sent the report.

The city could find the company in default of the agreement. City officials can also grant written extensions to the agreement or amend it.

In January 2019, an outreach event was held at the American Legion Post No. 13, calling for Pasadena residents and businesses with construction experience.

Several local organizations were also contacted, including Flintridge Center, which has a pre-apprenticeship program for former prison inmates. Also contacted were the Pasadena Community Job Center on North Lake Avenue and Pasadena City College, where there is a construction trades program.