Pasadena

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Michael Moreno remembers how just a decade ago, life on Colorado Boulevard just a mile east of teeming Old Pasadena came to a standstill after dark.

“It used to be that you could shoot a cannonball down the street and nothing would be hit,” said Moreno, who opened his design firm Sketch in 1989 in the area known as the Playhouse District. “It was almost eerie.”

That scenario is quickly changing. The area has emerged as a formidable arts and cultural district, with the Pasadena Playhouse, a popular bookstore and a multiplex art-house theater, among other magnets.

Long overshadowed by Old Pasadena, where trendy restaurants, big-name retailers and movie theaters draw younger visitors well past midnight, the more sedate stretch to the east is targeting an older clientele.

So far, the strategy seems to be working. Revenues for the eight-block area grew to $110 million last year, up from around $80 million in 1995, according to Marsha Rood, the city’s development administrator.

“Certainly, our sales volume isn’t shabby, but there just aren’t that many people here,” Rood said. “We need more storefront retail to generate foot traffic.”

To date, some $40 million in private investment has fueled the comeback. Vroman’s Bookstore has helped lead the way, sinking more than $3 million into a 12,500-square-foot addition in 1995 that led to a 60 percent increase in sales.

But one of the most significant developments came in February, when Laemmle Theatres opened Playhouse 7 Cinemas, a 1,200-seat, $4.8 million facility. A 3,000-square-foot Italian restaurant is slated to open in the site by the end of the year.

“The marriage of us and the Playhouse District is almost ideal,” said owner Robert Laemmle. “The theater has been doing phenomenally well. In the last couple of months, we are at least 50 percent ahead of our projections.”

Meanwhile, the California School of Culinary Arts is moving into 75,000 square feet of space on East Green Street, just south of Colorado. And Capital and Counties in San Francisco is buying two buildings consisting of 66,000 square feet along Colorado.

While officials declined to comment on the sale, speculation is that the property will be targeted for a boutique hotel and retail space.

At one time, the Playhouse District served as little more than a conduit between popular Old Pasadena and South Lake Avenue (another thriving retail area). Many of its buildings were vacant and in need of paint and repairs.

“It was long neglected,” said John Alle, a Realtor in the area.

A number of attempts at revitalization stalled over the years due to the faltering economy. But merchants and city officials eventually banded together in 1995 to devise a strategy to jump-start the district.

About 80 volunteers formed the Playhouse District Association, an organization that assesses members $25 to $500 depending on the size of their business. The money is used to attract business through marketing and beautification programs.

The city has also committed $1.3 million for streetscape improvements. “Things seem to be going in the right direction,” Rood said. “It’s a work in progress.”

Helping lure retailers to the area is Pat Hurst, a principal with the retail recruiting firm Economic Development Systems in Redondo Beach.

“The Playhouse is more of a destination in the (Los Angeles) basin, which widens our net to have people come to the district,” said Hurst. “But you need more than one reason to come here, enough so that there is cross patronage between businesses.”

Merchants and officials pushing the revitalization effort say they don’t want to become another Old Pasadena.

“We are striving for older clientele. Old Pasadena has pool halls and we’re not looking to put pool halls in or sports bars necessarily,” said Erlinda Romo, the city’s business development coordinator. “If a bar were to come in, it would have to be highly specialized and fit in with the community. We’re looking for intellectual pursuits.”

One clear attraction of the area is lease rates. While tenants pay $5 to $6 per square foot in Old Pasadena, rates in the Playhouse District run from $1.50 to $2.20 a square foot.

Those prices helped convince Claud Beltran to open his first restaurant in the district. Cayo, a 4,500-square-foot venue, will be adjacent to the Playhouse and cater to an upscale clientele.

“I’ve been looking for the right place here for the past four years and I didn’t want to go into Old Town where rents are expensive,” he said. “Besides, it’s horrible and my clientele doesn’t want to put up with crazy kids and booming music.”

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