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A troubled medical building project in Playhouse Village has evolved into plans for a new hotel on Colorado Boulevard located in a former Cordon Bleu building and the parking lot across the street from Urth Cafe.
A special meeting of the Pasadena Planning Commission on Wednesday will include a public hearing on the application to modify a previously approved conditional use permit (CUP) at 550-566 E. Colorado Blvd., in Pasadena’s Council District 7.
The CUP issued in July 2013 was for the construction of an 112,252 square-foot, 86 feet seven inches tall five-story medical office and retail building above a five-level subterranean parking garage with 476 parking spaces.
The original project was to be called Crown City Medical Plaza. With the current request, the proposed modification would be for a 109,000 square-foot, 85 feet tall, six-story hotel with 195 guest rooms, with ground floor retail and dining space.
A report in Urbanize LA in June said El Segundo-based Welcome Group Inc. had signaled their intention to build a hotel under the AC brand, a Marriott subsidiary, on the site where Crown City Medical Plaza was originally planned for.
West Hollywood-based Charles Co. owns the site and first sought approval for a medical office building there in 2014. The hotel proposal first came to light in September 2020 after the developer submitted the proposed modifications to the Planning and Community Development Department.
A total of 102 parking spaces would be provided with 16 on-site and 86 off-site in the adjacent parking structure to the south of the proposed building.
Aside from the proposed CUP modification, the other requested entitlements are a Conditional Use Permit to allow the building’s use as “Lodging – Hotels, Motels,” a CUP to allow alcohol sales for an on-site restaurant, and a minor CUP to allow for reduced parking in a transit-oriented development area.
Staff at the Department of Planning and Community Development are recommending that an addendum to the certified subsequent environmental impact report for the former Crown City Medical Plaza project be adopted, that the modification to CUP No. 5407 be approved, and the CUP to allow a “Lodging – Hotels, Motels” use be approved as well.
Wednesday’s Planning Commission meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. and is accessible through https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
Public comments may be submitted by email to htam@cityofpasadena.net.
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