Pacific Sales on South Lake Avenue

The former Strouds clothing store on South Lake Avenue (across from the newly remodeled Macy’s) was empty for quite some time. However, over the past few months, the appliance store Pacific Sales – famous for “high-end brands at the lowest prices” – has been building out the space. As one can see passing by the store, it looks like the interior is close to finishing and should be opening up any week now. Some brands that they offer include: Miele, Viking, Wolf, Kitchen Aid, and Sub-Zero.

Pacific Sales opening soon on South Lake Avenue

Pacific Sales will bring to Pasadena "high-end brands at the lowest prices"

Levitt Pavilion Commences Free Summer Concert Series

One of the best things about summertime in Pasadena has got to be the Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts at Memorial Park. This past week, the free concert series started its program with a variety of music genres for each day of the week starting on Wednesdays all the way through Sundays. From Latin to Jazz to Children’s Hour, concert goers sit comfortably on either the grass or benches in front of the beautiful Art Deco-designed “Gold Band Shell.” Please check out the website for different bands performing and their respective schedules.

Saturday's performance was Del Castillo

Hundreds gather to watch the free concert series provided by Levitt Pavilion of the Performing Arts

Sunday's performance was Cross Hart Jazz Experience

The free concert series lasts all summer until the end of August

Gold Bug Expands

The Gold Bug store – selling art and other unique pieces – is expanding in Old Pasadena. It sits on the ground floor of the One Colorado parking structure on Union St. and will be expanding its space through a little reconfiguration. For those familiar with the area, the watch shop next door will be relocating to the east side of Gold Bug (literally next door again but just on the other side), and as a result, Gold Bug will expand into the space currently occupied by the watch shop. It’s really not that confusing. Just take a look at the pictures below.

Gold Bug, a purveyor of art and other unique pieces, is expanding by annexing a space adjacent to it

The empty space with the red walls inside will be the watch shop as it relocates from just next door

A Snapshot of Old Pasadena

This past Sunday, as the weather warmed up from the June Gloom overcast days and the chalk festival at Paseo Colorado was taking place, I decided to capture a few shots of pedestrian crowds milling about Old Pasadena. There wasn’t really a particular reason why I decided to take these pictures, but I think it ended up being a nice snapshot of “just another” day in Pasadena.

Waiting to cross at Fair Oaks Ave. and Colorado Blvd.

Crossing Colorado Blvd.

Is she pointing at Naga Naga Ramen?

Scatter crossing at Raymond Ave. and Colorado Blvd.

Waiting to cross at Raymond Ave. and Colorado Blvd.

Sunshine brings out the shoppers in Old Pasadena

Upkeep Around Town

Looks like the “active lifestyle” senior housing complex, Fountain Glen, is updating the exterior facade by putting on a fresh coat of paint. From what I could tell, it looked like workers were painting the balcony railings from a greenish-hue to black. Besides that, I’m not quite sure what new colors, if any, will be replacing the current neutral tones on the building. The building is located on Union St. across from Target’s garden center.

Fountain Glen senior housing complex is getting some cosmetic maintenance done to the facade of the building

Scaffolding up for maintenance crew

Pasadena’s New Convention Center Shines

LA’s Franklin High students graduated this past Friday and celebrated their rite of passage with family and friends at the newly expanded $150 million Pasadena Convention Center. The expansive plaza in front of the new convention center as well as the original 1931 Civic Auditorium create an example of a great public space.

Some more about the new Pasadena Convention Center: “The Pasadena Convention Center Renovation and Expansion Project is located in the center of Pasadena on Green Street. The project consists of an exterior and interior renovation of the existing Conference Center, complete demolition of the Exhibition Hall and West Plaza, and the construction of a new 60,000 square foot Exhibition Hall, a 25,000 square foot Ballroom, 28 new Conference Center breakout rooms, and a 28,650 square foot Stressed Membrane Structure.”

Pasadena Convention Center Expansion

28 Meeting Rooms

Franklin High students have their graduation ceremony at the newly expanded Pasadena Convention Center

The West Wing hosted the IMATS (International Make-Up Artist Trade Show)

Franklin High students gather on the plaza with family and friends celebrating their graduation

On the steps in front of the 1931 Pasadena Civic Auditorium

Elements Kitchen Coming to Pasadena Playhouse, etc.

Some exciting new developments in the Pasadena dining scene. Elements Kitchen will be taking over a former Moroccan restaurant at the Pasadena Playhouse and complementing Zona Rosa Caffe a couple of doors down on El Molino Ave. Naga Naga Ramen gets its new signage up. And a new “American restaurant” will be taking over the Siena space on Union St.

Elements Kitchen will be opening a second restaurant at the Pasadena Playhouse. Their other location is on Dayton St. and Fair Oaks Ave.

Elements Kitchen has taken over what used to be a Moroccan restaurant at the Pasadena Playhouse

Naga Naga Ramen's new signage is now up and was installed quickly after restaurant opening in Old Pasadena

The Siena space will be replaced by "an American restaurant" TBD

New KPCC Radio Station

I listen to KPCC (89.3 FM) whenever I’m in the car or brushing my teeth in the morning. With all the less-than-stellar music being pumped out on the FM waves these days, I figure I might as well listen to some radio with “IQ” and get something out of it.

For those who listen to KPCC as well, it may be exciting news for you, if you don’t already know, that parent company Southern California Public Radio (SCPR) is building a new $27 million radio station facility on Raymond Ave., close by to the Pasadena Humane Society.

Currently, the station is actually located on PCC’s campus (Pasadena City College) but a new larger space was needed to stay abreast with the changing technological times. In addition, according to SCPR president and CEO, Bill Davis, “We’re looking to add a forum (building), a place to hold Town Hall meetings, ‘meet the candidate’ meetings, live programs with Larry Mantle and Patt Morrison. The forum is a very important aspect of this project.”

The new facility will be large enough to accommodate the “broadcasting and administrative staff and all the studios.”

"FM with IQ"

New KPCC station with part of it as adaptive-reuse of a former office building and part of it new construction. In the rendering, the left building is old and the right building is new

Construction continues on new KPCC station on Raymond Ave.

A former office building will be adaptively-reused as part of the new KPCC station

Granite Park Pasadena Update

Located behind the shops and restaurants on South Lake Avenue, Granite Park has been chugging along slowly (hoping and waiting for the market to rebound I assume). The health of the market is especially important to this project since the condo units here actually start at $1 million and go up to $2 million. If this project turns out to be anything like the Montana Lofts, then I think it might actually be attractive/worth it to those who can afford it.

Another thing I like about this project is the location it was developed on. I’m not talking about it being adjacent to South Lake Avenue or being close to Caltech, but it is exactly the kind of development I think is needed to fill in all those surface parking lots (i.e., underutilized land and potential) in back of the shops on South Lake Avenue. I talked about this earlier, and I think we can improve South Lake Avenue dramatically by developing the back of the parking lots into an amalgam of mixed-use projects and bungalow complexes akin to the Mission Meridian T.O.D. (transit oriented development) in South Pasadena. Imagine quaint and cute alleyways with shops and restaurants and galleries created from the parking lots that would add to the pedestrian experience on South Lake Avenue instead of just using it for parking cars.

Granite Park, a luxury condo project, is progressing slowly in line with market conditions

A rendering of Granite Park completed

Another rendering of Granite Park on the ground level

Keeping the road that separates the back of the shops from the parking lot, one can see how developing mixed-use projects on those surface lots would add another dimension to South Lake Avenue, making it even more interesting and pedestrian friendly

Ed Hardy Sample Sale

For all those who are still fans of Ed Hardy’s crazy designs (I admit, I have one Ed Hardy shirt in my closet), there is a sample sale going on at the Pasadena Convention Center. According to one of the workers at the front door, this sale is supposed to go through this weekend as well as next weekend. So if you’re in the area and feel like rummaging through piles and piles of clothes, then this might give you something to do.

Piles and piles of clothes at the Ed Hardy Sample Sale

Ed Hardy Sample Sale going on this weekend as well as next weekend