Old Pasadena Project Is Dogged by Profit vs. Preservation Battle

The block of crumbling brick buildings in Pasadena is unremarkable. Few passers-by stop to look at the faded, boarded-up storefronts, huddled together in a field of weeds.

But in Pasadena, where historic buildings are treasured, these particular buildings have set off nearly a decade of dispute over the most vexing issues in historic preservation.

The dispute centers on the so-called Marketplace block, bordered by Colorado Boulevard, Fair Oaks Avenue, Union Street and De Lacey Avenue.

Nearly everyone in Pasadena agrees that redevelopment can give new life not only to the block but to Old Pasadena, the city’s historic district, as well.

The wrangling over the fate of the Marketplace block raises uncomfortable issues in preservation.

For buildings of recognized historic importance, how much alteration and demolition should be tolerated to make them commercially viable? Which is the city’s first priority: profits or preservation?

Key players in the dispute include the city of Pasadena, which has long sought a developer to deliver the block from decay; preservationists, who demand that the buildings be restored faithfully to their past appearance, and a developer, who claims that several of those buildings must be radically altered if the project is to succeed.

The buildings are rich in history; some date back to the 1880s. One had been Pasadena’s City Hall before the famous domed building in Civic Center was built. The site also contained an early grocery and two Victorian-era hotels.

But the block means more to Pasadena than nostalgia. Local merchants and property owners consider the block to be a potential economic dynamo for the surrounding area.

A new project on the Marketplace block, says Pasadena Mayor Bill Thomson, “will make Old Pasadena into a major retail attraction.”

Despite local interest, efforts to redevelop the block seem jinxed. For the last nine years, the city has seen a parade of developers offering schemes to turn the antique buildings into an upscale shopping center. But all past attempts to develop the block have failed, sharpening the desire of city officials to push the project forward.

In May, the city gave the nod to San Francisco-based Doug Stitzel, who plans a shopping center and cinema complex to be called One Colorado Boulevard. Frustrated by the lack of progress on the site after a decade, the city’s Board of Directors--the city council of Pasadena--unanimously approved the Stitzel project.

But the project is opposed by Pasadena Heritage, the city’s largest and most powerful preservationist group. It argues that the project would alter seven buildings on the block and change the appearance of several building exteriors.

Old Pasadena has recently experienced a blossoming of new theaters, restaurants and shops in antique buildings. But at the very center of prosperous Old Pasadena stands the Marketplace block in a state of near ruin.

Local merchants complain that the block is an eyesore and an embarrassment. One real estate broker says the site is creating a negative business climate in the area.

“When major tenants come to Pasadena, they always point to that block and ask why it has encountered so much difficulty . . .,” said broker John Alle. “They ask, ‘Is the business climate in the city stalling the project?’ ”

Jim Plotkin, a local merchant who has restored four Old Pasadena buildings, said the Marketplace block is “either the golden spoon or the Achilles’ heel” of Old Pasadena.

If the latest project is a success, he said, it will strengthen the area’s revival. If it fails, Plotkin said, it could be years before the city finds another developer willing to take on the challenge of the Marketplace block.

$75-Million Center

Stitzel, who built his reputation with high-end shopping centers in San Francisco and Beverly Hills, plans to create a $75-million, three-story shopping center that will rehabilitate existing buildings and include new construction.

Off Union Street, on what is now a vacant lot, Stitzel plans a six-screen movie theater. An outdoor plaza will be created on the interior of the block, where moviegoers will gather. Dusty old alleys will be transformed into small shopping streets that can be entered from the plaza, inviting moviegoers to venture into stores.

Because space is tight in the old buildings, Stitzel must create as much profitable store space as he can. Perhaps the most ingenious part of his scheme--and the most controversial--is a plan to create ground-floor entrances to shops on both the first and second floors.

To shoehorn three levels of shopping into two-story buildings requires change outside the buildings, as well. Stitzel said he needs to raise Hugus Alley by at least 18 inches to lead shoppers to believe they are entering alley stores at street level--which he said is crucial to the success of the shopping center.

The executive director of Pasadena Heritage, Claire Bogaard, disapproves of the ambitious redevelopment plan. She says the site--”the most important block in the city, from the standpoint of its historic significance”--is too important to be altered radically.

Conflict Over Wall Removal

She criticized Stitzel’s plans to remove “party walls” from seven old buildings. Because the buildings are connected like townhouses, removing the walls would destroy the individual character of each building, she argued. The developer says he will rebuild the walls, but Bogaard is unconvinced.

What’s more, Bogaard said, the developer does not appreciate the uniqueness of Pasadena, with its strong sense of history and community. Stitzel “never seemed to understand that we were not Beverly Hills or Union Square in San Francisco,” she said.

Stitzel rejects the notion that he is an insensitive outsider. He said he does not plan to model the Pasadena project after his posh Beverly Hills shopping centers, One Rodeo and Two Rodeo. “It’s going to be appropriate to the community,” Stitzel said.

The image of upscale shopping in Old Pasadena contrasts with the broken-down appearance of the area 10 years ago. In the mid-1970s, the six-block area bordered roughly by Pasadena Avenue, Del Mar Boulevard, Union Street and Arroyo Parkway seemed destined for the wrecking ball.

Champion of Old Pasadena

During the same period, Pasadena Heritage was founded and quickly became a force in the politics of land use in the city. It also became a champion of Old Pasadena, and in the late ‘70s the city designated the area as a historic district and set guidelines for the restoration of historic buildings.

Pasadena Heritage, said developer Plotkin, “helped make Old Pasadena. They worked with us, the local merchants and property owners, when the area was basically a Skid Row and we were trying to bring it back.”

Three years ago, with the introduction of a popular multiplex cinema into the area, Old Pasadena made its comeback. Restaurants, galleries and other night-time oriented businesses gathered momentum. The former Skid Row of Pasadena was becoming the Melrose Avenue of the San Gabriel Valley.

Despite its victories in Old Pasadena, the preservation group sees itself as embattled.

After a long fight, the former Huntington Sheraton Hotel was demolished in March. And one of the most famous homes in the city, the 1907 Blacker House designed by Greene & Greene, was bought by a Texas antique dealer who stripped the house of irreplaceable ornaments and sold them to collectors.

Courtyard With Shops

The fight over the Marketplace block has been another sore spot with Pasadena Heritage since the early 1980s, when developer John Wilson, with the backing of television producer Garry Marshall, began buying up properties on the Marketplace block.

Wilson envisioned a shopping center with a large courtyard on the interior of the block, lined with shops. Preservationists and some city officials opposed the project because it called for the demolition of much of the old buildings to make room for the courtyard.

Despite the opposition, the project won approval in 1985. To kick off construction, Wilson invited thousands of Pasadena residents to a huge public party, complete with a circus tent, food, historic costumes and rides on a restored trolley.

But work on the site did not get far. The man who charmed a city could not get a smile from a single lender, and although the city gave him an extension on his building permit, Marshall bought out Wilson’s interest in the project in September, 1988. Two other developers, in turn, agreed to build the project, only to drop out shortly after.

Stitzel, since buying the project from Marshall last December, has faced a firestorm of criticism in Pasadena. Some observers think that he has been a whipping boy for Wilson’s sour legacy. “The past history, and ill will of the project has been carried over to him,” said Bruce Judd, a San Francisco architect and preservation consultant to Stitzel.

Compromise Meetings

Last spring, sensing that the preservationists and the developer were still at odds, a group of Old Pasadena property owners brought the two sides together again in a series of “compromise meetings” held a few days before the project won approval from the Pasadena Board of Directors.

Observers at the meetings, including Pasadena Director Rick Cole, gave Stitzel good marks for both toughness and ability to compromise. The developer said he would scale back a sweeping redesign of Hugus Alley and agreed on a lower height for the raised alleys.

But Pasadena Heritage’s Bogaard remained dissatisfied. Several of those compromises represented changes that had already been ordered by the city, she said.

Stitzel is impatient with further demands. “We have the overwhelming support of every special interest group: the Board of Realtors, the Chamber of Commerce, the local developers, the overwhelming majority (of the city)--except Pasadena Heritage. They want perfection.”

Impatient With Delays

Some local property owners, who had been supporters of Pasadena Heritage, opposed the preservationist stand on the Marketplace block. Impatient with delays to revive the decaying block, the property owners chose to support the Stitzel project.

“It was a difficult situation,” says a local property owner. “Both sides had worthwhile goals.”

Approaching the May 30 meeting of the Pasadena Board of Directors, Stitzel had reason to be anxious. “Two weeks before the vote, everybody assumed it would be a bitter and divisive fight,” Cole recalled.

Surprisingly, the vote went smoothly for the developer. Despite last-minute appeals from preservationists, the directors approved the Stitzel project 7 to 0.

Cole said he was finally swayed by Stitzel’s business sense. “While I have some concern about Stitzel’s understanding of the Pasadena market, I do think he has a sharp eye for attracting and retaining tenants. . . .”

Lose the Listing

Bogaard is not reconciled to the Stitzel project. She is worried that the Marketplace block, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, could lose that listing if the developer alters the historic character of the building beyond recognition.

Pasadena Heritage has not yet decided whether to try to block the project with a lawsuit, Bogaard said, but is “reviewing its options.”

Stitzel, however, has made it clear that he will not stand to have the project tied up in a suit. He said if anybody challenges it in court, he will build the much-maligned John Wilson Marketplace project instead.

The Wilson project already has a building permit from the city, and Stitzel has the legal right to construct the earlier, much-criticized version of the project.

“What choice do I have?” Stitzel asks. “It’s not a veiled threat. Any other businessman would do the same. What would you do? Would you sit with a piece of property bogged down in a lawsuit or would you develop something?”