A prominent corner building at the western entrance to Old Pasadena sold for the first time in more than 150 years in May 2024. It is already back on the market.
The property at 130 E. Colorado Blvd. — a multilevel retail building at Colorado Boulevard and South Arroyo Parkway — is listed at $9.5 million through NAI Capital Commercial broker Ana Souliver, about 21 months after it sold for $8 million. The new asking price represents a $1.5 million premium over what buyer DFTC, Inc. paid for it in that prior transaction.
The offering includes two parcels: the building itself, which NAI Capital describes as approximately 14,103 square feet of gross leasable area across a lower level, ground floor, and second floor with balcony, and a separately parceled 47-space surface parking lot. Combined, the parcels total approximately 0.53 acres at the corner of Colorado Boulevard and South Arroyo Parkway, a location the listing brochure describes as the gateway to Old Pasadena.
The parking lot parcel is the piece drawing particular attention in the listing. According to the NAI Capital brochure, the approximately 0.377-acre lot might potentially support a five-to-six story mixed-use development with up to 49 residential units under California’s Density Bonus law, within Pasadena’s CD-MU-C — Central District, Mixed-Use, Core — zoning designation. The brochure puts potential buildable area at approximately 37,000 square feet at a 2.25 floor-area ratio. Those figures represent NAI Capital’s estimates and have not been independently verified.
Under Pasadena’s Central District Specific Plan, the CD-1 Old Pasadena subdistrict is intended to support long-term commercial viability through mixed uses including medium-to-high-density housing near light rail stations. The Memorial Park Metro A Line station is less than a quarter mile from the property.
The building was constructed in 1952, renovated in 2011, and was previously occupied by financial institutions, according to CBRE, which arranged the 2024 sale. G&C Frost Company had held the land since 1874 — more than 150 years — before selling to DFTC, Inc. for $8 million in May 2024.
At the time of that sale, CBRE broker Kyle Barratt said the buyer had “a creative plan to revitalize this iconic building.”
The property is listed simultaneously for lease, with space available from 1,372 to 14,103 square feet at rates the LoopNet listing places between $21.60 and $66.00 per square foot annually.
When CBRE brought the property to market in 2024, Barratt called it, at the time, “a generational opportunity for investors seeking prime, Old Town Pasadena real estate.”
“While the floorplan presented challenges, we were able to attract multiple offers from owner/occupiers and investors, and ultimately selected a buyer with a creative plan to revitalize this iconic building,” Barratt said in May 2024.
Broker Ana Souliver of NAI Capital Commercial represents the property seller.
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