PASADENA — The 1930s-era building occupied by Michaels arts and crafts store on Colorado Boulevard has sold for $9.4 million, officials said. But don’t worry, creatives. Michaels is staying put.
That’s because the site is said to be among the company’s top selling stores in the region, and it’s on a long-term lease.
The property itself — built in 1939 with its just more than 21,000 square feet sitting on almost an acre — is among an array of Pasadena commercial buildings built in the early 20th century, or with features that date back that far.
Investors saw the site as a keen investment, said Bill Ukropina, whose team at Coldwell Banker Commercial Pasadena, including Robert Ip, Kathi Constanzo and Alex Banks, brokered the deal for buyer, whose name was undisclosed and seller, Colomar Partnership.
“This property has tremendous value, being located along Colorado Boulevard (Historic Route 66), one of the busiest thoroughfares in Pasadena,” he said. “It offers convenient ingress/egress, large street frontage and abundant on-site parking. The property is zoned for mixed-use or multifamily, which gives the asset outstanding development potential.”
Ukropia noted that the building itself is not considered historic, but its vintage sign — which today has the Michaels name on it — is of historical significance.
But more broadly, the relatively high price on the investment — $9,488,000 all in — is a sign that Colorado Boulevard remains attractive for investors with an eye on the longterm, Ukropina said.
“It shows investors like Pasadena long-term as investment in commercial real estate,” he said, noting that “it’s still a strong market,” despite being in an era of the pandemic, when business and commercial real estate, along with office space, has taken a hit along Colorado Boulevard.
The pandemic has indeed hit Pasadena — like many cities with a lot of commercial office space, and the satellite businesses that profit from that space, including coffee shops, restaurants.
Many who work in administrative modes of work can work from home, and that has taken a chunk of workers out of Pasadena, who no longer commute daily into downtown hubs to work. And that means they don’t eat lunch or dinner, or buy things at surrounding local retail and culinary spots, and that impacts businesses and jobs down the line.
