Construction of Pasadena Project to Begin in June

After facing lengthy delays and neighborhood opposition, Forest City Development says it plans to start construction next month on a $32-million retail project adjacent to the Macy’s department store on Pasadena’s South Lake Avenue.

The Shops on Lake Avenue will feature 135,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space that will be adjacent to the landmark building that formerly housed a Bullock’s department store.

Forest City has dropped plans for a seven-screen movie theater that were included in the design originally approved by Pasadena officials in 1998. The theater was eliminated to settle a lawsuit filed by a neighborhood association concerned about the traffic congestion and other issues.

The project has received most of the city’s major approvals and is scheduled to be completed in late summer 2002, according to Forest City planning executive Victor Grgas.

The plan now features space for 25 shops and up to six restaurants. Some of the spaces have been leased but Grgas would not identify the tenants.

The Shops on Lake Avenue, at the southwest corner of Lake Avenue and Del Mar Boulevard, feature a mid-century modern design by Johnson Favaro Architecture & Urban Design of Santa Monica. The two-story project also will include space for 300 cars.

The former Bullock’s department store building “is a treasured icon in the Pasadena community,” said Brian M. Jones, president of Forest City Development, California. “We are designing the Shops on Lake Avenue to complement the style of the original architecture.”

The interior of the Macy’s store also will undergo renovations.