The South Pasadena sub market is arguably one of the tightest markets for apartment investment sales in the West San Gabriel Valley area. This area has historically been known for its highly desirable residential real estate market, good quality of life, excellent public schools, and high real estate prices. The small town atmosphere, direct access to 110 Freeway, and adjacent location to Pasadena has made this city thrive and sustain its real estate values throughout the recession.

The city of South Pasadena was incorporated in 1888 and encompasses approximately 3.44 square miles. It is centrally located in the Western San Gabriel Valley, just seven miles northeast of the Los Angeles Civic Center in Downtown Los Angeles. It is bounded by the city of Pasadena on the north; the city of Alhambra on the south; the cities of Glendale and Los Angeles on the west; and the city of San Marino on the east.

The city is known for its tree-lined streets, historic California Craftsman-style homes, unique small businesses and its outstanding public schools. South Pasadena prides itself on its small town atmosphere and makes it one of California’s most desirable locations.

More than 61% of residents in this affluent community have college degrees, accounting for the high population of professors that teach at the University of Southern California (one of the world’s leading private research universities), the prestigious California Institute of Technology, and California State University-Los Angeles, in addition to other smaller colleges and universities located nearby. Regional access to the city is primarily from the Pasadena (110) Freeway and Long Beach (710) Freeway, which run in a north/south direction, and the Foothill (210) Freeway and Ventura (134) Freeway, which runs in an east/west direction. These freeways provide direct access to other freeways serving the southern California region, including the Golden State (5) Freeway to the west and the San Bernardino (10) Freeway to the south.

HISTORY OF SOUTH PASADENA

On March 2, 1888, South Pasadena officially incorporated with a population of slightly over 500. The City’s boundaries established in 1889 are essentially the same today. South Pasadena consists of 3.44 square miles of the prime residential property. In 1876, unimproved land with water was selling from $75 to $150 an acre. Today a vacant lot in South Pasadena can be sold for more than $200,000. Few cities in California are better recognized for the quality of its small town atmosphere and rich legacy of intact late 19th and early 20th century neighborhoods and residences. South Pasadena also has a strong claim to having the oldest and most historic sites in the San Gabriel Valley. For many centuries, its adjacency to a natural fording place along the Arroyo Seco had served as a gateway to travel and commerce for aboriginal peoples here and along the coast. It was here that Hahamognas greeted Portola and the missionaries who later established the San Gabriel Mission a few miles to the west.

In 1888, South Pasadena incorporated the southern portion of the Indiana Colony and land south and eastward to the Los Angeles border, becoming the sixth municipality in Los Angeles County. With the establishment of the Raymond Hotel and the Cawston Ostrich Farm, the small community was able to attract tourists and increasingly large waves of new residents to the Pasadena area in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. With the completion of the Pacific Electric Short Line, putting the entire city within an easy walking distance of the “red car” stations, South Pasadena also became one of the first suburbs of Los Angeles. It is now certainly one of the best-preserved cities, maintaining a small town quality and humanity in the scale of its buildings, its residential streetscapes and historic commercial core.