A question of design
Redesign of IDS Playhouse Project not likely to sway opponents
By Jake Armstrong 08/26/2010
A re-envisioned design scheme for the IDS Playhouse Plaza, a proposed 159,000 square-foot mixed-use building one councilwoman dubbed “too damn big” for its Pasadena Playhouse-adjacent location, is up for review Monday before the Design Commission.
The recommendations call for shifting the bulk of the five-story building away from the historic Playhouse’s direction, while removing other design elements the project’s opponents deemed incompatible with the area, said David Saeta, senior vice president for developer IDS Real Estate. “We’ve really done our very best to really address those issues and we’ve made significant changes to the project to address the community’s concerns,” he said.
But members of Pasadenans for a Livable City, a group that formed to fight the proposal and is suing to reverse its approval, say the recommendations will do nothing to help the project blend in with its surroundings at the southeast corner of Colorado Boulevard and
El Molino Avenue. The changes also fail to address pedestrian traffic safety issues the building’s 522-space subterranean parking garage will create, and do not make the design any more compliant with what citizens called for in the General Plan, group members say.
After the project twice failed to gain approval from the Design Commission, the City Council voted in May to step in and send the project back to a Design Commission subcommittee, which began working on a solution with the developer. But the project’s density and height — the main points of contention — could not be revisited since the council had already approved those aspects.
The council allowed IDS Real Estate to add public amenities — among them 11,000 square feet of public space and 155 public parking stalls — to score a density bonus that makes the $70 million project financially feasible. IDS purchased the site for $12 million in January 2007, and opponents accuse the city of shirking established design guidelines to help a private company turn a profit.
The Design Commission meets at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Pasadena Senior Center, 85 E. Holly St., Pasadena.
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