July 3, 2026

Dear Linda Vista Neighbors,

Thank you to everyone who attended the meeting, submitted written comments, or spoke during public comment. We were proud to see so many Linda Vista residents engaged in the process and advocating for the future of this important neighborhood asset.

We are writing to provide an update on last week's Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) Board meeting regarding the future of the former Linda Vista Elementary School site and outline what happens next.

We recognize that members of our neighborhood have a variety of perspectives on the proposed development. Some residents support preserving the park in its current location above all else, while others have additional concerns regarding housing density, traffic, mature trees, grading, emergency access, or other aspects of the proposal. The LVAA remains committed to listening to all viewpoints and ensuring they are represented as this process continues.

• The PUSD Board voted to authorize staff to begin negotiating an Exclusive Negotiating Agreement (ENA) with InSite Realty, the developer selected through the district's Request for Proposal process. This vote does not approve a final development plan. Rather, it authorizes the district to begin negotiating with the developer. Any final ENA, ground lease, or development proposal must come back to the Board for future approval after additional planning and community engagement.
• The board approved an amendment directing that negotiations proceed with the expectation that the existing park remain in its current location. This amendment reflected one of the most frequently voiced priorities expressed by neighborhood residents during the meeting and in correspondence received by the Board.

Over the past several months, the LVAA has worked to keep the neighborhood informed and engaged. LVAA Board members attended meetings with PUSD staff, communicated with PUSD board members, distributed updates, encouraged public participation, and developed a community concept plan after gathering neighborhood input. LVAA personally walked a board member through the school site and met with several members in person to discuss the importance of this project to our community. Throughout this process, our goal has been to represent the priorities expressed by our residents while maintaining a constructive working relationship with PUSD.

We appreciate that the Board, Superintendent, and district staff have repeatedly emphasized that community engagement will continue throughout the ENA process.

According to PUSD, negotiations with the developer will include additional community outreach, followed by city planning, entitlement, and environmental review before any final agreement returns to the Board for consideration.

In the coming weeks, we will:

• Host a series of small neighborhood focus group conversations to hear residents' thoughts and concerns in greater depth.
• Distribute a community survey so every resident has an opportunity to provide input.
• Continue meeting with district representatives and monitoring the process.

As always, we welcome your thoughts. If you have comments, concerns, ideas, or expertise in areas such as planning, architecture, engineering, traffic, landscaping, environmental issues, or public safety, please email us at president@lvaa.net. We value your input and encourage you to stay involved.

Several neighbors let us know that they did not receive our emails leading up to the Board meeting. We were sorry to hear that. We have identified an issue with our email distribution list and are actively working to correct it so that all LVAA members receive future communications. Thank you for your patience as we improve our system.

We know this project is important to our neighborhood, and we appreciate the thoughtful, respectful way our community has participated so far. There will be many more opportunities to shape the future of this site, and we encourage everyone to stay engaged as the process moves forward.

Sincerely,

Linda Vista Annandale Association

Eric Kern, President

Brad Phillipi, CFO 

Marlene Decker

Martha Denzel

Joseph Drapalski

Maureen Gelberg

Rick Gould

Andy Fuzesi

Fritz Miller

Liz Rappaport

Amy Valencia

June 20, 2026
To: Linda Vista Neighbors
From: LVAA Board
Subject: Linda Vista Elementary School/Park Update
 

The Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) has released its report regarding responses to the Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Linda Vista Elementary School/Park site, including the developer recommendation and proposed development concepts.
The report can be viewed here:

• https://pusd.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=15&event_id=606&meta_id=166039

The LVAA Board is currently reviewing the materials and will provide additional information and observations after we have had an opportunity to fully evaluate the proposal.
At its upcoming June 25 meeting, the PUSD Board is expected to consider whether to enter into an Exclusive Negotiating Agreement (ENA) with the recommended developer. An ENA allows PUSD and the developer to continue discussions and negotiate terms in more detail. Approval of an ENA does not constitute approval of the project itself, nor does it commit PUSD to moving forward with any final development plan.
Important Date:

• PUSD Board Meeting (open to the public)  351 S. Hudson Ave., Pasadena
       Thursday, June 25, 2026   6:00 p.m.
   

We encourage interested residents to review the report and attend the upcoming PUSD board meeting.  Community engagement and public input will be especially important as PUSD considers next steps regarding the future of the site. The LVAA will continue to monitor developments and keep the neighborhood informed.
 

LVAA Board of Directors
 

May 23, 2026

LVAA Members, 

The following overview was prepared by the Linda Vista Annandale Association (LVAA) board to provide our members with a consolidated summary  of information, district actions, development proposals, and community concerns surrounding the Linda Vista school/park property. While the process remains active and evolving, the LVAA believes it is important that our neighborhood remain informed, engaged, and prepared to participate meaningfully as decisions move forward on the RFP process. 
For many residents, the Linda Vista Elementary site is more than surplus property. It is a longstanding community asset located within one of Pasadena’s most historically and environmentally sensitive neighborhoods. The decisions made regarding its future will influence our neighborhood's character, open space, traffic, housing patterns, and community resources for decades to come. LVAA remains committed to advocating throughout the RFP process to influence outcomes that reflect the values and priorities of the surrounding community.
Eric
 

Eric Kern
LVAA President
 

Linda Vista School Site Development Overview
 

This overview provides a summary of the Linda Vista Elementary School site, the Pasadena Unified School District's (PUSD) current plans for its disposition, and key issues of concern for the surrounding community. The Linda Vista Annandale Association (LVAA) Board of Directors prepared this document in May 2026, based on publicly available information, meetings, conversations, and updates LVAA has pursued since late 2025. LVAA notes that this is a dynamic situation, this overview may not capture the full extent of the issues, and interested readers are encouraged to inform themselves using any and all available resources.
 

The Linda Vista Elementary School site (LVES).
 

In late 2025, the PUSD Board of Trustees moved forward with plans to dispose of several school sites, with the hope that funds from the properties could help manage district deficits, unused property and provide housing.  One of the sites identified was Linda Vista Elementary, vacant now for over 20 years (2006).
 

PUSD aligned itself with a major real estate company in the Los Angeles area.  CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) issued a marketing call and Request for Proposals (RFP) in January 2026. The CBRE overview was targeted at developers who would be interested residential projects.  In addition, PUSD issued a formal RFP delineating the deal points for the potential project.  
 

The CBRE materials describe this property as follows:
 

“On behalf of Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD), CBRE is proud to present this rare development opportunity within the coveted Linda Vista Neighborhood, ideally suited for high end residential development. The subject property is being offered on a long term ground lease basis.”
 

Some of the relevant language in the PUSD RFP is quoted below:
 

• Section II,  District’s Development Objectives, 2. Property Location/Conditions
• The size and location of the Property make it ideal for a residential development. Additional information about the location, layout and potential development opportunities for the Property is provided in the Marketing Materials.
  
   
• Section II, #1 Mission and Goals
• PUSD’s goal is to maximize revenue and “the District desires to enter a long-term Ground Lease with a developer lessee (of up to 99 years) to develop the Property to best meet the District’s needs and the surrounding communities, while generating revenue to the District.”
  
   
• The Joint Occupancy statutes require that the District maintain a physical presence on the Property, which is what the District Proposed Project is. (See Exhibit A.) The District has determined that its District Proposed Project will consist of improvement/modification of the existing park site that is located on the Property.
  
   
• Park Project: As discussed above, the District also seeks to meet the Joint Occupancy requirements of the Proposed Project, by requiring the selected developer to refurbish and improve the existing open space/park on the Property. The park portion of the Property shall remain under the District's use and control, and utilized by the community as a park and recreational space.
• Section IV. Project Requirements, 3. The District will give significant weight to any proposals that provides for a non-refundable upfront payment of a minimum of one million dollars ($1,000,000). The District anticipates that it will incur costs related to conducting the RFP, reviewing proposals, executing a ground lease and maintaining compliance with Education Code requirements.  LVAA  Comment: Our information suggests that demolition cost of the current site exceeds $2 million, contributing to the current condition of the location.
  
   
• City of Pasadena Requirements: The District seeks to ground lease the Property in exchange for the design, construction, operation, maintenance, and all associated costs related to the development. The District, after consultation with the City of Pasadena (“City”) is interested in proposed developments of the highest quality, in terms of design and construction materials, and although the City is not a participant in the RFP process, as the entitling agency, it has approval authority over any proposed development.
  
  
  
  LVAA Comment:  The City of Pasadena, through the Mayor’s Office, provided LVAA an overview of the City’s process.  The development review, once submitted to the City, will be extensive. It will or could include, but not be limited to, Historical Resource Evaluation, possible Zone Changes, Planning Hearing Officer or Planning Commission approval, Design Commission approval, a General Plan Amendment, and City Council approval.  All in all, an exhaustive and lengthy process.  In addition, the City Code Enforcement Division has responded to complaints at the site, visited the property and turned over their conclusions to PUSD, who is the responsible property owner for such issues.
   

The CBRE announcement and marketing can be found here.  The PUSD RFP can be found here.
 

LVAA Activity
The LVAA Board, in particular the President, Eric Kern, is and has been following this issue closely and a subcommittee meets regularly about the site.  Eric has met with interested parties and has developed a strong rapport with the stakeholders.  He regularly attends any relevant PUSD meeting. The school site remains LVAA’s most important issue at this time.  In addition, LVAA worked with local interested parties and developed a site plan that met neighborhood objectives and shared this with the stakeholders several months ago.  This LVAA Vision Plan can be viewed as below.
 

Process Status: 
The most recent RFP process update LVAA has received suggests there were 15 submitted proposals (submitted on 4/2/26).  CBRE is currently reviewing the proposals for consistency with the PUSD RFP and fiscal requirements.  LVAA believes CBRE will submit approximately three qualified bids to PUSD later in late June, with a probable favorite.
 

Government agencies are allowed to negotiate property actions in Closed Session, so it is unlikely the details of the bid will be made public until negotiations are largely complete.  If an agreement is reached, the preferred bid and ground lease will be brought to public review and the PUSD Board of Trustees.  It is difficult to gauge when that might occur, and LVAA expects to be involved in discussions about the final plan proposal.
 

What the project is NOT:

There has been recent speculation that this development might include over 100 units of teacher and staff housing.  LVAA believe this speculation is based on plans for the Roosevelt Elementary School Workforce Housing site, which is another PUSD project within 2 miles of the Linda Vista neighborhood.    PUSD has proposed 115 units on this site.  The PUSD project description can be found here.  An independent article can be found here.  To the best of LVAA’s knowledge, there are no similar plans for the LVES at this time. The LVES is an entirely separate site and undergoing an entirely different process. [1]
 

Linda Vista Park (LVP)

• The RFP Structure provides for the use of a park to enact the legal basis to allow the 99 year lease.  As such, a park is protected on the site in the context of this RFP.
• The RFP does not describe or delineate the features and scope of the park.  In other words, could a developer alter the existing park, decrease or increase size, change park elements, move it to another location on the property, or other change not specified?  Yes.  A developer could choose to make the land organization/plan fit their concept of use and develop ‘a park’ that is different than what we understand today.
• Ideally, any development deal would require the developer to include all costs for park improvement in the overall project proposal.
• Currently, within the City of Pasadena, a Single Family Unit of housing generates a one time Residential Park Impact Fee to the City. much of which must be used by the City within about 1/4 mile of the generator (LVP).  A small percentage can be used in the Arroyo. Generally speaking, these funds funds must be used for improvements, not operations. 
  
  Child Care
• There are no comments in the RFP regarding the child care operation.
• The silence seems to suggest that it is up to the proposer to deal with the issue.
• As a corollary, there is no mention of the Library or the Bryant Street corridor.
• It is LVAA’s understanding that the child care operation is a month to month lease.  
  
  
  Public Process
• The RFP also suggests that the proposers development plan will be a public record.  This will likely be true, but not until a preferred plan has been selected.  It is likely that any request to review submitted proposals will be deferred.  Most likely, the District will post meetings in Closed Session for something like “Conference with Legal Counsel Regarding Property Negotiations”  and the site address, is all that LVAA will see initially. 

April 13, 2026
The Request for Proposal (RFP) window closed on Thursday April 2nd.  The PUSD’s real estate consultants will be reviewing the bids from developers over the next couple weeks.    You can find the draft site plan posted on this page.  This is the plan that was shared and discussed at our December Town Hall.  This plan is being proposed by the Linda Vista Annandale Association as a potential concept for the School/Park site.  The LVAA board will remain engaged with the PUSD and their real estate consultants and look forward to updating you at our Annual meeting.

January 20, 2026

The RFP was released on Thursday Jan 15th.  The Board and our Linda Vista Park/School advisory committee is engaged and will be working with the City of Pasadena and Council Members to make our voice heard.  You can view the RFP here: https://www.cbredealflow.com/handler/modern.aspx?pv=h_GhF-0TbvAOYjMcCfNYVuwyZtS0ke88CCpYwPB14dY#_top

December 26, 2025

The LVAA Board would like to thank the residents who attended last week’s Linda Vista School/Park Town Hall. Below is a summary of the key updates and next steps discussed.

What your LVAA Board has Done (Summer-Fall 2025)

• Established an LVAA Advisory Committee, including Linda Vista residents with experience in city government and real estate development, to help guide our advocacy and strategy.
• Attended PUSD Board and Pasadena City Council meetings when the Linda Vista School/Park site has been on the agenda.
• Engaged directly with Superintendent Blanco and the PUSD Board to clearly communicate our community’s strong desire to be included in any development discussions.
• Worked closely with our PUSD Board representative, Yarma Velázquez.
• Coordinated with Councilmember Steve Madison and his Field Representative, Justin Chapman, to ensure they are informed of our efforts and any new developments.

Where the Linda Vista School/Park Development Stands

• PUSD has voted to move forward with issuing an RFP (Request for Proposals) for development of the Linda Vista School/Park site.
• PUSD has expressed a preference for a 99-year lease rather than an outright sale of the property.
• The RFP is expected to be released in January 2026, after which developers will have 60 days to submit proposals.

What the LVAA Boars Plans To Do Next 

• At the Town Hall, the Board — together with a local architecture firm — presented a preliminary design concept (attached).
• We received valuable community feedback that evening and will incorporate it into a final design.
• Once finalized, we plan to present the design to:
  
  • PUSD Board Members and Superintendent Blanco
  • Mayor Gordo and his staff
  • Pasadena City Council Members
  • City of Pasadena Planning Department

Our goal is to ensure that all key stakeholders understand and consider the vision that best represents our neighborhood.

How your Can Help

• Attend future PUSD and City Council meetings when the Linda Vista School/Park site is on the agenda. The LVAA Board will notify members via email.
• Share questions or feedback by emailing: president@lvaa.net
• Consider purchasing LVAA “Save Our Park” merchandise to support our advocacy efforts:
  https://www.bonfire.com/i-love-linda-vista-park/
  

November 23, 2025

Report after the PUSD Facilities meeting – Monday Nov 17th

Head of Facilities (Michael Dunning) and the PUSD attorney updated the PUSD

board and residents on the Linda Vista School/Park site:

• The RFP will be released on/around Dec 3 rd
• Developers that are interested will have 2 months to submit bids for the site
• The RFP will include language that encourages the developers to maintain a park on the site, either as is or redesigned to fit the developers’ vision.
• Final development will require City Council to approve changes to zoning.
• The LVAA Advisory Committee has been working with an architect to draw up a conceptual layout of land uses and amenities for community review, incorporating ideas that were suggested at our July’25 LVAA Town Hall. Once complete, the LVAA will host a second Town Hall (either in December or January) to present this layout to LVAA membership for feedback. Once we have consensus, we will then present this layout to the PUSD/City Council and interested developers.

Linda Vista Elementary School Campus Update (8/29/25)

Last night the Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education voted to explore redevelopment options for the vacant Linda Vista Elementary School campus (including Linda Vista Park) and authorized district staff to seek proposals from developers under a joint occupancy agreement.

Mayor Gordo and Councilmember Madison spoke at the meeting and asked the board to table the resolution until discussions with the City could take place. Click here to read the resolution that was approved by the school board.

LVAA URGENT UPDATE (8/19/25)

Linda Vista School/Park Site

The Linda Vista School/Park site is on the PUSD agenda next week, and WE NEED YOU to show up to help determine the future of this site.  Here are the details for the meeting:

• Aug 28th        5-730p           351 S. Hudson Ave (room 236)
• Please wear a Dark/Navy Blue shirt (collared shirt, button down shirt, t-shirt, pullover).  We want to convey solidarity on the Linda Vista School/Park issue. 
• We are encouraging all LVAA members to send an email to all PUSD board members, the Superintendent & the Public Comment address.  We’ve created an email you can copy/paste, or you can write your own:

Dear PUSD Board of Trustees/Superintendent,

I am writing as a passionate and engaged resident of the Linda Vista/Annandale community regarding the potential sale or lease of the Linda Vista School/Park.  The School was once a cornerstone of our neighborhood for many years but has been closed and has been neglected the last 20+ years.  And our Park is the heart of our neighborhood, serving as a gathering place for families, friends and neighbors.

We know the District is faced with the difficult decision to sell/lease to meet financial obligations, but we, as a community, feel strongly that our voices must be included in the process that determines the future of this property.  The decision(s) your board makes will have a lasting impact on our neighborhood, and I/we believe it is critical to consider options that preserve the character, accessibility, and community value of this space. 

We respectfully request:

• Transparency about the district’s plans for this property
• An opportunity for our community to provide input before any final decisions are made.
• Consideration of potential uses that will benefit our families and neighbors.

We are passionate about ensuring the Linda Vista property is an asset to our community and would greatly appreciate being included in this process.

Thanks for your time, service and willingness to hear from the community surrounding this real estate.

Sincerely,

• Please send to:
  • Publiccomments@pusd.us
  • Kenne.kimberly@pusd.us
  • Halllee.jennifer@pusd.us
  • Bailey.michelle@pusd.us
  • Harden.scott@pusd.us
  • Marshallmckenzie.pat@pusd.us
  • Fredericks.tina@pusd.us
  • Velazquezvargas.yarm@pusd.us
  • Blanco.elizabeth@pusd.us

• Linda Vista School/Park is deemed a ‘PUSD Surplus Property’
• The PUSD Board of Trustees & the Superintendent are considering two options for the LV School/Park:
• Selling the 5 acre property (School/Park)
  • If the PUSD sold the property, there are restrictions in how the PUSD can direct those funds. 
• Enter into a Joint Occupancy, which would allow the PUSD to enter into a lease with a developer up to 99 years.
  • The PUSD has more flexibility with funds derived from this option, the funds can specifically be directed to their general fund.
• What was decided at the conclusion of the meeting
  • The 7 Trustees voted 6-1 to advance the Linda Vista School site to the next step in the process of making a final decision on the property
    • Th next step for the PUSD is to hire a Real Estate Advisor.
    • Once the Real Estate Advisor is hired, that person(s) will be tasked with writing up a RFP (Request for Proposal) that will be posted for developers to consider.