Multifamily Residential Project Predevelopment Plan Gets Positive Review From Council

The Pasadena City Council on Monday reviewed plans for a 58-unit multifamily residential project at 1870-1890 E. Walnut St.

The project applicant, HHP Walnut LLC, has applied for a predevelopment plan review (PPR) to redevelop contiguous properties at 1870 to 1890 E. Walnut Street, 175 N. Greenwood Ave., and 170 N. Parkwood Ave., and build the new multifamily residential building. 

The 59-unit project has been determined by Planning Director David Reyes to be of major importance to the city. The project is 100 percent affordable.

“It is a combination of moderate and workforce housing,” Reyes told the council on Monday.

The project combines the required offsite development of affordable housing from some other projects that were approved by the city and it combines them into one development site.

The project would require a conditional use permit (CUP). 

The four existing parcels that make up the project site are located on the south side of Walnut Street, between Parkwood Avenue on the west and Greenwood Avenue on the east, with an aggregate site area of 44,982 square feet, or about 1.03 acres.

According to an agenda report by the Department of Planning and Community Development, the project site is currently developed with separate two-story structures occupied by automotive-related businesses and surface parking. 

HHP Walnut, LLC is proposing to replace all existing improvements on-site and construct an 80,478 square-foot one- to four-story residential building consisting of 58 units. Up to 87 parking spaces would be provided within one level of subterranean parking accessible from Greenwood Avenue.

“This is a pioneering project. moving a residential project into this area which hasn’t seen this kind of development,” said Councilmember Margaret McAustin. “I think it’s appropriate for this area. The developer held two community meetings with the neighborhood.”

A CUP is required because it is a multifamily development in a general commercial (GC) zone located within one-quarter mile of the Allen Street Gold Line station.

“I would say the neighborhood response has been quite favorable,” McAustin said.  

The city Zoning Code says a predevelopment plan review is required for multifamily projects consisting of 10 or more dwelling units in order to achieve better projects through early consultation between city staff and applicants. 

In the report, the Planning Department said all concerned departments have reviewed the project as part of the project PPR process and provided comments for the City Council to consider. 

The city’s Design Commission also conducted a preliminary consultation on Oct. 13 and gathered comments that were part of the submission for Monday’s City Council meeting. 

In public comment, housing advocate Jill Shook expressed concerns about the funding source of the project.

“The lion’s share of Pasadena’s in-lieu fees are used for such projects. We feel that a more fair distribution of these funds should be put in place,” Shook said. “With 527 homeless neighbors this year and counting due to COVID, we want to know if there will be any dollars left to address this urgent need. It is our hope that we can create a more balanced use of our precious in-lieu dollars or come up with an additional local affordable housing funding source.”

Shook also expressed concerns about the racial mix of those in Heritage Housing Partner homes. 

“Black and Latinx households with the greatest rates of displacement from Pasadena must have a fair chance to stay in Pasadena, and can with the right to return if you decide to bump up the local preference policy to put those displaced as a higher priority,” Shook said.

The Economic Development and Technology Committee was scheduled to address the city’s affordable housing priority ordinance today.