The Rusnak Auto Group tells its Volvo buyers they are ”customers for life.” Now its Rusnak Volvo Cars in Pasadena could be replaced by a 150-unit apartment complex.
The Temple City-based firm has filed plans to replace its only Volvo dealership with two mixed-use apartment buildings at 1099 and 2025 East Colorado Blvd., Urbanize Los Angeles reported.
Plans call for a pair of three-to-four story buildings on both sides of North San Marino Avenue at Colorado Boulevard. The project was reviewed this week by a city design commission.
A 1.4-acre lot at 1999 East Colorado would include a 73-unit complex with 5,143 square feet of ground-floor shops and restaurants, plus a single-story parking garage for 79 cars.
A 1.15-acre lot at 2025 East Colorado would include a 77-unit complex with 4,500 square feet of retail space and parking for 77 cars. Both buildings would include studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments.
The project, designed by DLR Group of Omaha, Neb., would be clad in white and charcoal-colored plaster, limestone and corrugated metal, with large vertical windows and black balconies.
The U- or O-shaped buildings would include central courtyards, gyms, dog parks and rooftop patios.
A third- and fourth-floor cut-out at 1999 Colorado would include a terrace flanked by a floral
mural reminiscent of the city’s Tournament of Roses Parade.
The apartments east of North San Marino would replace the Rusnak Volvo’s 14,418-square-foot sales building, 7,417-square-foot service building, a storage structure and a 7,267-square-foot commercial building, according to Pasadena Now.
The apartments to the west would require demolishing a storage car lot and two single-family homes at 36 North Berkeley Avenue and 45 North San Marino Avenue, both built in 1946.
The dealership for the Swedish-made cars serves drivers from Los Angeles, West Covina and Duarte, according to its website. In 2010, it won a national dealer award from Volvo.
“From before you even walk into our showroom to long after you drive home, all of our customers here at Rusnak Volvo Cars are customers for life,” the website states.
Rusnak Auto, a private family firm founded in 1966, operates 15 car dealerships in Pasadena, Arcadia, Thousand Oaks, Anaheim Hills and Loma Linda.
In July, Rusnak proposed moving its Porsche dealer in Pasadena to a new 36-foot-tall showroom proposed at 2915 East Colorado Boulevard. But planning commissioners asked the company to hit pause for a redesign after residents objected to its scale and cookie-cutter design.
— Dana Bartholomew
Read more
Development
Los Angeles
Going up: Lithia Motors plans five-story Porsche dealership near DTLA
Commercial
Los Angeles
Galpin Motors to open Lotus dealership in Beverly Hills