Among the retailers that recently signed leases that bring the figure to nearly 90% are Paris Baguette, one of the largest bakery franchises in the world; the Vitamin Shoppe; the national Hana Grill chain; and several others.
Paris Baguette will locate a gourmet, quick service bakery and restaurant at the Pasadena Collection, while the Vitamin Shoppe will open one of a number of Southern California stores that the discount retailer of vitamins and nutritional supplements has been launching in the region of late. Hana Grill, a national chain offering Cal/Asian cuisine, will operate a restaurant and sake bar at the development, where other retailers signed on earlier this year. The recent deals were brokered for Champion by Vic Montalbo of Epsteen & Associates.
Bob Champion, who heads the development firm, says the new retailers will complement existing shopping options in the area. The Pasadena Collection, in the midst of the city's South Lake Avenue District, provides a mix of retail, housing and commercial office space. It is composed of two four-story towers featuring street-level retail, 72 luxury apartments, 38 New York-style lofts and 18,000 sf of commercial space, which is being marketed as office condominiums. Construction has been under way for some time on the project, which is slated to open in January.
The development is being designed by Nadel Architects Inc. in what Champion says is the first project ever in Pasadena to combine office, retail and residential, developer Champion says. At the time construction began, he told GlobeSt.com. that the city amended its general plan for the South Lake Avenue district to accommodate his project and to clear the way for other future developments.
According to Champion, his plans initially proposed 150,000 sf of office, but there was a lot of concern by residents that this would be too much office in what has traditionally been a retail and residential area, so the developer modified the plans to reduce the amount of office space.
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