City Manager Won’t Tip Hand on YWCA

Although the City Council told City Manager Steve Mermell it wants affordable housing in the YWCA project, the City Manager won’t reveal if any developers have been removed from the process.

“It is in the best interests of the City not to comment on this question,” Mermell told Pasadena Now, when asked if the list of potential developers had been narrowed down, and if there was favored project.

The project could come before the council later this month.

According to Mermell, the Council gave direction to staff to continue negotiations regarding the price and terms of payment as to the proposals for the YWCA and civic center.

On Monday housing activists were scheduled to gather for a vigil outside of the dilapidated building and prayed near the busts of Jackie and Mack Robinson.

“Although the political prospects are looking good, it is imperative that we have a huge turnout when the Civic Center comes up for a vote in February, and make sure we flood the City Council with letters,” said housing advocate Anthony Manousos.

Pasadena is experiencing an affordable housing crisis. Over half (56 percent) of Pasadena residents reportedly are renters.

In the past five years, the median rent for a two-bedroom apartment has increased from $2,139 to $2,695, according to Zillow.

Of the five proposals only two have an affordable housing element.

Continental Assets Management in Arcadia proposed a four-star 167 hotel room, either a five-story 120 room market-rate unit building or a six-story 139 affordable housing unit is proposed at the Water and Power site.

The Ratkovich Company with the National Community Renaissance in Los Angeles is proposing two alternatives.

The first would call for rehabbing the building for office space. The second option calls for the rehabilitation of the building with construction of a new 59,000 square foot office building, or rehabbing the building and building a 142-room hotel.

On the PWP property, permanent supportive housing or permanent supportive housing and 15,000 square feet of leasable office space is proposed by Ratkovich.

The other proposals included a 125-150 full-service Four Seasons hotel at the YWCA site along with 25 luxury residences at the former Water and Power site by Carpenter and Company of Boston.

A proposal by Edgewood Realty Partners from nearby South Pasadena would see a 164-room boutique hotel operated by Palisociety and a 70,000 square foot, five-story office building is proposed for the Water and Power site.

New Orleans-based HRI Properties LLC would create a 179-room hotel, of which 165 rooms would be in a new 83,000-square-foot building adjacent to the YWCA. Their proposal didn’t specify what the Water & Power site would be used for.