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In a separate action the City scheduled a Tuesday morning joint press conference with the County of Los Angeles and Kaiser Permanente at the vacant building to announce the launch of a new partnership and plans to transform the property into a community services site and housing.
“We are very excited about what we can do with that property. We have a massive need in the city for affordable housing, we also have a need for mental health care services as well as primary outpatient services and we see this as a potential opportunity for all of those things,” Assistant City Manager David Reyes said at the meeting.
Reyes said any future development and use of the property would follow all applicable regulations, including compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act and include public input through community meetings and any required formal public hearings.
“We’ve been talking about doing some levels of affordability in terms of a housing project which is certainly one of the main uses desired there by the General Plan and Zoning Code,” Reyes said.
Kaiser has listed the property since January.
“The City staff has worked very hard to make this happen… It’s really an opportunity that will not be repeated,” said Mayor Victor Gordo.
The Mayor expressed support further noting the property’s “proximity to the Gold Line, the level of density that we can have and the existing zoning for either medical or mental health services.”
“To have this now before us is a tremendous accomplishment,” Gordo further added.
On March 13, the City Council directed the City Manager to work with Los Angeles County to explore the feasibility of identifying appropriate properties in the City for possible co-location and joint occupation for affordable housing and expanding essential healthcare and mental health outpatient services in the City.
This action followed the March 7 Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors’ approval of a motion for the County and City to explore a joint venture that would meet a critical community need, including identification of suitable properties within the City of Pasadena that could be the home for health outpatient services and housing collaborative opportunity, according to staff report.
Reyes said $6 million of the total purchase amount of the property will be coming from Los Angeles County.
The stage for the new community center set in early March when District 5 Supervisor Kathryn Barger introduced a motion before the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to bring primary health care and outpatient mental health services to the north Pasadena region, which was identified as a high priority area by the County Department of Health Services.
The motion called for the County to develop a funding plan to acquire a property where housing, health and mental health departments, and local mental health organizations could co-locate and fill a service gap.
Barger said the motion’s goal is to bring tangible solutions to neighborhoods in her district where there is an acute need, and that the work has the potential to serve as a model.
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