A pair of single-family homes and accompanying granny flats in Pasadena could be razed for a new multifamily residential development, according to a presentation to the City's Design Commission.

The project, slated for a property at the northeast corner of Mar Vista Avenue and Union Street, calls for the construction of a three-story, roughly 29,000-square-foot building containing 23 one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments above a one-level, 31-car subterranean garage.  Three of the apartments would be set aside as deed-restricted very low-income housing in exchange for density bonus incentives permitting reduced setbacks.

Onyx Architects is designing the proposed apartment complex, which is described as a contemporary low-rise building with similar scale and materials to other nearby residential developments.  The housing units would wrap a T-shaped courtyard space with openings to both Mar Vista and Union.

City records list the owner of the project site as Alexander Metaxes, an executive with Santa Monica-based Reality Investment Advisors.

The development site is located two blocks east of the intersection of Walnut Street and Catalina Avenue, where the Salvation Army is pursuing the construction of a mixed-use permanent supportive housing complex.