Article originally posted on HERE on September 15, 2017

Hyatt Place Pasadena broke ground on Thursday, September 14, on its 186-room hotel located in the heart of Pasadena at the corner of South Los Robles Avenue and East Colorado Boulevard, an emerging hub of new construction and economic activity.

Executives of Ensemble Real Estate Investments, developers of the project, and Councilmember Steve Madison spoke at a brief ceremony prior to a symbolic shovel and dirt turning on the site before a gathering of city officials, including Councilmember Tyron Hampton, and representatives of banks, architectural firms, investors, builders and others supporting the project.

The facility will be composed of a six-story hotel paired with a seven-story mixed-use building. It will fill the 150,000-square-foot space previously occupied by a Macy’s department store.

“Its (the hotel’s) location here at the Paseo is really a synergy between hospitality and entertainment. This is a location within the mall that would provide guests as well as the businesses and an opportunity to share resources back and forth,” Conrad Garner, vice president of development of Ensemble Real Estate Investments, told Pasadena Now. “We have worked closely with the master developer here, Arrow Retail, to integrate into the Paseo, now and in their future vision. “.

Garner also called on Pasadena residents to look forward to experiencing the new hotel after it opens, saying it won’t just be for travelers to the city.

“We hope that the local community really takes advantage of the meeting spaces we’re bringing into the downtown business district. We have two incredible meeting rooms, a fronting promenade area, we have a second-floor outdoor deck with a fire pit that we hope to attract social business. This is not just for the travelers. It is for the community as well,” he said.

Pasadena District 1 Councilmember Tyron Hampton welcomed the construction of the new hotel saying that Pasadena at the moment suffers from a shortage of hotels.

“As some residents may know, our city is in a shortfall for hotels right now. We have a yearly, day-to-day worth of about 87 percent capacity at all of our hotel space and bringing another hotel to a destination city like the City of Pasadena, brings in more travelers, as well as gives us the opportunity to have more conventions,” he said.

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