Foothill Boulevard businesses could get a boost, after design plans approved

Locals may soon see a makeover on the 1000 block of La Cañada’s Foothill Boulevard as an office building on the north side of the thoroughfare undergoes exterior renovation after the city’s Design Commission approved the design last week.

The building — which encompasses businesses at 1049, 1051, 1053, 1055 and 1057 Foothill Blvd. — was built in 1995 on a shallow parcel flanked to the rear by Valley Sun Lane and has seen only minimal upgrades to signage in the decades that followed, city documents indicate.

According to plans submitted to the La Cañada Flintridge Planning Department by Montrose-based architect Malekian and Associates, the building will receive a significant resurfacing as its stucco finish is sandblasted and replaced with a smooth trowel exterior.

“We’re keeping to all the forms and articulations of the building as far as the shape, height and formation,” said Alen Malekian, owner of the design firm. “It will be a lot more retail and pedestrian friendly.”

The building’s co-owners, identified by the county assessor’s office as Alan Aghabegian and Greta Torossian, further plan to replace existing doors and windows and install a sleeker steel-cable handrail along the Foothill frontage. A standing seam metal roof will be installed, replacing the existing tile roofing.

Malekian said the idea was to bring the aesthetic of the building more in line with more recently designed nearby businesses, such as Flintridge Bookstore and the newly remodeled Hill Street Café.

“The residential look will come down, and it will have more of a commercial look,” he said. “It will be more consistent with the area, but still you’ll have the village feel.”

Approved by the Design Commission in a July 18 meeting, the plans still need to go through the building and planning process, but Malekian said the hope is contractors could begin work by mid- to late September.