A staff report to the Pasadena Design Commission offers a first look at the proposed revamp of the monolithic Bank of America Corporate Office building at 101 S. Marengo Avenue.

The five-story, approximately 360,000-square-foot building - located on a site which fronts Marengo, South Arroyo Parkway, and Green Street - was completed in the mid-1970s as a credit card processing facility for Bank of America.  At the time of its completion, the mid-rise structure was advertised as featuring large 60,000-square-foot floor plates, a 350-seat cafeteria at its roof, and a 525-car parking structure.  Bank of America continually occupied the building until last year, when it chose not to renew its lease after more than four decades.  

Built by developer McCaslin-Lloyd Investment Co. and designed by architect Edward Durell Stone, the building is described in an evaluation by Architectural Resources Group as a"windowless rectangular box with a flat roof," surrounded on all sides by hardscaped plaza.

While its broad footprint and seemingly fortress-like appearance makes the Bank of America building a well-known landmark to passersby, the evaluation by ARG ultimately concluded that the Bank of America building was ineligible for historic designation, an assessment with which city staff agreed.  This finding clears the way for property owner Horizontal Capital Partners, LLC to embark on a renovation and remodel of the property which will allow it to be once again marketed as office space.

A rendering of the proposed alterations, which are being designed by Los Angeles-based Price Architects, show horizontal ribbons carved into the currently blank exterior of the Bank of America building.