Greenbridge Investment Partners, a Los Angeles-based commercial real estate investment firm, has leased nearly the entire 12,000-square-foot ground floor of the historic Pasadena Star-News building to Wake and Late Restaurants.
The expanding Los Angeles-based breakfast burrito chain plans to use the hard-to-find culinary space – Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts’ former training ground for aspiring chefs — as a new storefront location for food and coffee sales and a large-scale bakery that will supply bread, pastries, and baked goods for all Wake and Late locations. The lease announcement comes just after Greenbridge leased the building’s entire 7,500-square-foot 4th floor to Los Angeles-based gourmet cookie company, Last Crumb.
Located at 525 E. Colorado Blvd. in the heart of Pasadena’s financial district, the landmark building is near the historic Pasadena Playhouse, Pasadena Civic Center, Paseo Colorado, and many of the city’s dining and entertainment destinations. With high street visibility and heavy pedestrian and vehicle traffic – as well as adjacency to a parking structure at 473 East Union St. – the building is also ideal for ground-floor retail.
“To support a culinary institute, the building showcased its incredible capacity to handle the simultaneous operation of multiple professional-grade kitchens where aspiring chefs perfected their crafts day after day,” said Sean Hashem, Principal at Greenbridge Investment Partners in a statement. “Greenbridge maintained the property as a culinary fortress that far exceeds the needs of our tenants. It allows them to significantly increase the production of menu items and reach more customers in the heart of Pasadena’s dining and entertainment district. The property offers a dream combination of production and sales capabilities that are a catalyst for a tenants’ expansion plans.”
The building’s location and functionality are complemented by its architecture that made it an immediate and lasting landmark since the Pasadena Star-News opened it in 1925. Designed by American architect Joseph Blick, much of the original exterior has been preserved. The interior retains much of the large open spaces, irreplaceable ceilings and historic stonework from the original design.
The property’s 82,509 square feet of total rentable space is pushing its way closer to full capacity as interest grows for the remaining vacancies on the 2nd and 3rd floors and the penthouse.
