Over 100 years ago, the grand Raymond Hotel welcomed elite guests and celebrities alike. The original hotel had a short lifespan — built in 1886 by Walter Raymond of the Boston travel agency Raymond & Whitcomb and burning down less than 10 years later in 1895 — but during that time, it saw high-profile figures like the Rockefellers and Carnegies.
When it was rebuilt in 1901, it was larger than before, constructed as a 300-room hotel, with visitors including icons like Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and President Theodore Roosevelt before financial ruin during the Great Depression led to its foreclosure in 1931 and demolition in 1934.
It is this grandiose legacy that architectural firm KTGY and developer Greenbridge Investment Partners drew upon for The Raymond, the newest 55+ resort-quality senior living community in South Pasadena.
Located at 601-625 Fair Oaks Avenue, it is the largest private residential development the city has seen in nearly a century, developers said, and it was created to allow older adults to age in place within their communities.
“How do they all age gracefully and grow in their community that they grew up in?” Greenbridge Investments Partners principal Fareed Kanani said. “When they’re in their most fragile periods of time, where they need care, they need really good food and to have a very high quality of life? We came up with the idea of luxury senior housing and branding it to The Raymond.”
Even before its completion, The Raymond is earning accolades. It was recently honored with a Gold Nugget Award of Merit for Best 55+ Housing Community – On‑the‑Boards.
“We were up against some other great projects in the 55+ category, and we were able to get an award of merit, which is great,” KTGY principal Ben Seager said. “It is an award show that our firm KTGY has been involved in for a long time, continuing to submit awards, and we’ve won a few in the past, but this one is different for us because it’s a different type of project. I don’t think we’ve ever won an award in a 55+ community or category before.”
Presented by the California Building Industry Association and the Pacific Coast Builders Conference, the Gold Nugget Awards is considered one of the oldest and most prestigious residential design awards programs in the nation. The panel evaluates how well a development addresses real-world constraints, such as urban infill challenges, aging-in-place solutions, environmental sustainability and regional housing mandates, recognizing projects that are both completed and those “on the boards,” or currently in the active design, planning or drawing phase.
