Plans for New Project at Site of Former Twin Palms Restaurant Go before Design Commission

The site of the former Twin Palms restaurant founded by Kevin Costner will undergo dramatic changes if a new project going before Pasadena’s Design Commission is approvedd Tuesday.

The Commission will hear final presentations on a proposal to build a four-story 20,962-square-foot mixed-use building with 4,840 square feet of commercial space and 18 residential units at 85 W. Green Street in Pasadena, on a site that’s located at the northwest corner of West Green Street and South De Lacey Avenue in Old Pasadena.

The restaurant has been demolished and the two namesake 35-foot tall canary palm trees on the property long removed.

A new project for the property is now in the Final Design Review phase, almost two years after the applicant sought to alter original plans for the project. This time, a larger mixed-use apartment building – instead of a two-story office building – will be built on the same property that’s just east of the 710 Freeway stub, with at least 3,700 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and basement parking.

A report by the Department of Planning and Community Development said the site is surrounded by commercial and mixed-use buildings ranging between one and three stories in height. There is also a church at 80 West Dayton Street to the south. The project site is non-contributing to the Old Pasadena Historic District, but is immediately adjacent to two contributing structures: 101 and 111 West Green Street. The surrounding context is also historically and architecturally sensitive, the report said.

In the application for Final Design Review, the applicant included design revisions in response to the conditions of approval detailed by Planning Department staff from the previous Concept Design Review. The applicant also provided more detailed plans, elevations, sections and color and material information for the project.

The Planning Department said current drawings are more detailed and present a palette of materials that is consistent with the design of the building. The Department is recommending approval of the application and has listed conditions of approval for the Commission to consider.

At Tuesday’s Design Commission meeting, Planning Department staff are expected to explain each condition of approval.