City Approves Lease for Rent Stabilization Department Office

As part of Monday’s consent calendar, the City Council voted to authorize the City Manager to enter a $774,147 lease agreement with 199 S. Los Robles, LLC. and 199 Los Robles, LLC. And Robles SM, LLC. for office space for the City’s Rent Stabilization Department.

The department needs approximately 6,000 usable square feet of space for 22 staff and multiple conference rooms sized for public hearings and client consultations.

Additional requirements include sufficient parking, a lobby, a break room, and storage needs.

The proposed lease is set to start on July 1 for a term of 40 months. The proposed lease will be co-terminus with the City’s other Department leases to align with the City’s Facility Needs Assessment goals to consolidate all departments.

The Landlord will provide three months base rent abatement for month 2 through 4 equaling $63,104, plus an additional $34,885 in lieu of the Tenant’s broker commission.

The department was created in December 2023 to support the Pasadena Rental Housing Board’s duties to regulate rent increases on certain city rental properties, provide eviction protections, and carry out the other duties set forth in the Pasadena Fair & Equitable Housing Charter Amendment (City Charter Amendment) approved by Pasadena voters in November 2022.

Here are the remaining items that passed on Monday’s consent calendar agenda.

• A resolution to authorize submission of a grant application for the California Clean Energy Planning Program (CCEP) from the California Energy Commission. In accordance with AB 128 (Budget Act of 2021), the CEC’s Siting, Transmission, and Environmental Protection Division announced the CCEPP and the availability of up to $1,550,000 in grant funds, including $500,000 available to local government entities to develop new or updated land use planning documents that support the implementation of Senate Bill 100 and advance local clean energy development. The OSP project supports these goals; therefore, PWP proposes to pursue this grant opportunity to help offset project costs. Due to the tight timeline of the application process and the expected competitiveness for awards, which will be considered in order received, PWP submitted an application for the grant on May 7. Any resulting reward would not exceed $100,000.

• A resolution approving the fiscal year (FY) 2025 General Fee Schedule. Each year, as part of the annual budget adoption process, the City Council adopts a resolution approving the General Fee Schedule. Consistent with California law, Pasadena Municipal Code Section 1.08.070 states that the amount of any fee established by resolution of the City Council shall not exceed the cost incurred by the City in providing the service, use, action, or item for which the fee is charged. Examples of cost of service-based fees include processing land use approvals, building permits, and entrepreneurial type services. The General Fee Schedule also includes non-cost of service-based fees such as facility rentals and fees to participate in recreation programs.

• A $108,000 contract with Echo Factory for marketing, branding and public relations services. Authorize the City Manager to extend the contract for up to two additional one-year periods, if needed. The City of Pasadena’s Economic Development Division (Economic Development) sought qualified consultants to provide marketing, communication, and public relations services to help Economic Development strengthen its relationship with targeted local, regional, and national audiences. The City must effectively communicate and market a consistent message to elevate Pasadena’s profile and clearly convey its value proposition to diverse stakeholders, including private industries, local businesses, and community partners. Economic Development will strategically promote the benefits of working, investing, and doing business in Pasadena. Economic Development will focus on priority groups outlined in its 5-year Strategic Plan, which include deep tech, the cultural and entertainment sectors, and small businesses. An important project featured in the Strategic Plan is to develop a robust marketing campaign on behalf of the life science and “deep tech” industries. With Echo Factory’s support, Economic Development will have refreshed marketing materials, new brochures, social media templates and posts, taglines, and elevator pitches that effectively showcases the city’s assets, a content calendar, and an updated communications strategy.

• Key business terms of a $2 million affordable housing loan agreement with Heritage Housing Partners for a city loan to acquire and rehabilitate property at 2318 E. Foothill Blvd. for operation as a 10-Unit affordable rental housing project for transition age youth and amendments to the housing department’s fiscal year 2024 operating budget. The proposed project is the second affordable housing project for transition age youth who are homeless or at-risk (“TAY”) to be undertaken by Pasadena-based nonprofit housing developer Heritage Housing Partners (“HHP”). HHP’s first TAY project is located at 2322 E. Foothill Blvd. consisting of six studio units which, with City loan assistance pursuant to Contract No. 23651, HHP commenced acquisition and development activities in May 2022. HHP partnered with a social service provider, First Place for Youth (“FPFY”) which will provide social services for the TAY residents. HHP and FPFY each entered into agreements with Pasadena City College (“PCC”) which provide for a project operating subsidy from PCC and a process for selecting TAY-eligible PCC students to occupy the project. It is anticipated that the units will be ready for occupancy by the end of June 2024.

• Authorization to increase the purchase order contract for an amount not-to-exceed $4,240,405 with General Electric Company to repair Glenarm Turbine 5 and amend the fiscal year 2024 Capital Improvement Program budget for the Water and Power Department. On November 16, 2023, an alarm on an unrelated system resulted in a shutdown of GT5. Staff contacted General Electric Company (“GE”) who is the Original Equipment Manufacturer (“OEM”) to assist with troubleshooting and inspections of the engine. Metallic particles were discovered in the lubrication oil samples pulled from the combustion turbine during the inspections. As a result, GE recommended to take the unit out of service and remove the engine and transport it to the repair facility in Houston, TX for bearing failure repairs. On March 11, PWP filed a report with City Council, pursuant to Pasadena Municipal Code (“PMC”), Section 4.08.150 Emergency Repairs, that detailed the circumstances of the GT-5 emergency repairs and the subsequent approval of a purchase order with GE in the amount of $2,285,420 based on GE Quote# 1668098 dated January 18, 2024. The requested amount included the base price of $1,904,516 and approximately 20% contingency amount of $380,904 to cover tax and any unforeseen change orders. The GT-5 engine was inducted into the GE Houston Service Center on Tuesday, March 12. The engine went through the first stage of the repair process for an aeroderivative engine which includes the disassembling of the engine and assessing the condition of the components removed against established aircraft specifications. GE further evaluated components that did not meet the required specifications (“fall out”) to determine if less stringent limits can be applied to allow the components for use in a power generation capacity. GE identifies each component and determines whether repair is a viable option or if a new replacement component must be sourced to allow for engine reassembly. Based on GE’s assessment, GE provided a revised quote that now considers the additional parts and work necessary to complete and reassemble GT-5’s engine. A portion of the necessary work does include additional inspection of some components and recommendations for repairs that may not be deemed successful. In those circumstances further additional costs may be incurred beyond the requested increase. The original GE quote plus contingency was for $2,285,420. The new revised quote of $4,240,405 includes a revised base bid amount of $3,611,473 and a revised contingency of $628,932. The main drivers for the increase are for fuel nozzle replacement and parts and materials associated with turbine nozzle, blades, and shrouds. The new set of fuel nozzles at $481,500 and $1,000,427 for nozzle, blades, and shrouds accounts for almost 90% of the increase.