Alen Malekian Discusses His Role in Shaping Glendale

Alen Malekian is the principal and founder of Glendale-based architecture firm Malekian & Associates, which has its hands deep in a number of local projects across many asset types – including single-family, multifamily, mixed-use and commercial.

As a longstanding resident of Glendale himself, Malekian considers himself well versed in its community demands and is attempting to aid in the city’s housing shortage by taking on more affordable housing projects.

Tell me about your background. How did you get started as an architect?

I moved to Glendale back in 1982, so I’ve been living here for over 42 years. I started taking high school classes, got to Glendale College, took architecture classes and went to Woodbury University. I’ve always loved architecture. I was more fascinated with the actual techniques and then, as I went through college, I learned more about the arts and everything that has to do with architecture. I just became more and more infatuated. It’s been quite a while that I’ve been doing this, but the interesting part is that every day I learn new things. I’m always learning, and I’m always interested in what’s around me.

What’s special to you about Glendale?

Glendale is a very interesting city in my opinion. It has a great vast of square footage – it extends from Burbank to almost Pasadena. You have a variety of climates, that’s one of the interesting parts of Glendale. Obviously, the culture and community are very important. We have a diverse multicultural community with different ethnicities coming together. It’s a melting pot for a lot of different people, from Armenians like myself, Hispanic, Filipinos and so on and so forth. Strategically, we are very well connected with all the surrounding cities. It’s a community that’s aware of what’s needed.

Working in this community is a privilege. Seeing the growth, understanding the neighborhood, being a part of the design review, being part of a lot of the ordinances and guidelines that have been developed throughout the city and understanding what people want really helps me to be more connected to the community and understand what they need. And because of my background and record, they listen. And we’re able to produce the work that we’re doing now and be successful in the community.

How has the city evolved over time?

The evolution of the design review process, to me, has been a big part of the growth of the community. Controlling and maintaining the sustainability of the community – the growth of the developments that are being proposed – has helped the community grow in a more cohesive way and basically be (seen) in a higher value than we would call our immediate neighbor Burbank.

The commercial growth and urbanization have been a big part of the growth. At one point, as I was part of the design review, I remember the Americana was being proposed and I was one of the proving bodies. We had a lot of people opposing the project. (Today it is) one of the most successful urban locations within Southern California. That has been one of the biggest parts of the growth of the downtown area. There are amazing restaurants, amazing updates and upgrades on all kinds of housing.

The growth has been steady because of the community development and the recent changes in the community development leadership. It’s a true reason we have a better city. I think the leadership has played a very big role in the development of the community.

Do you do projects in other parts of Los Angeles as well?

I do. We have approximately 80 to 100 projects running on average. About 30 of them are within the city of Glendale. Everything else is outside. The majority of them are in the city of Los Angeles. We have projects in Burbank, Pasadena, Arcadia (and) Santa Fe Springs. We have a lot of variety of different types of projects.

What’s it like to work on both single-family homes and commercial projects at the same time?

A project is a project to me. A single-family home allows me to be a little more creative and be a little bit more personal in a sense of the user-endwhereas on commercial projects, we do get creative, but we are essentially controlled by a lot of conditions and requirements that we need to meet (such as accessibility and parking). It’s two different hats that I wear, but we constantly go back and forth between commercial and residential. Personally, I like residential, but I enjoy affordable housing.

Tell me about 3501 Ocean View. What was the transformation process like?

It was a dry cleaners. The client of mine had purchased the property and, with his brother-in-law, they decided they were going to demolish the building and start reconstructing the steel frame with a metal frame. They ended up removing more than 50% of the roof and the building itself. By doing that in the city of Glendale, you lose the nonconforming conditions of the building. That means everything that is grandfathered in within the building, you lose that, and the city determines and looks at these projects – if they’re removed more than 50% – as a brand-new project. And because of being a brand-new project, they have to go through the design review process.

Their attorney was a friend of ours. They introduced us and so we met and discussed their options and what he wanted to do with the building. We actually came up with the design that he was happy with. It was an incubator for startup tech companies. I took a lot of inspiration from the building across the street, which is a mid-century building. I wanted to bring in the existing building, utilize some of the steel that they had installed prior to the demolition and be able to come up with a design that I (was excited about).

What’s another project you’re working on that you’re particularly excited about?

We just recently got approval on a project – 424 Milford – that’s an affordable housing project. And on that particular project, there are three lots and those three lots have three structures totaling five bedrooms. The proposal was to demolish the (lots) and reconstruct an affordable housing (complex) with subterranean parking. By right, we were allowed to have 24 units with the inclusionary of dedicating four affordable. But because we wanted to have additional units, we were able to get approval through the housing authority for 42 units by adding four more affordable housing (units). We totaled eight affordable (units) with 42 units (total).

We utilized some of our past experiences of developing other affordable housing (projects) to reduce the cost. Stacking the same type of units on top. The main emphasis is on the front of the building. The major cost is the facade renovation. The surroundings are very uniform, nice, clean design, but at the same time it’s cost effective. (We are trying to) keep the cost as low as possible. We didn’t max out. We didn’t go five-story. We went four-story to keep it as a type five construction.

What’s your favorite thing about your job?

One of my favorite parts of my job is when I walk into my office, when I’m sitting at my desk, that random phone call that I get that it’s a potential new project, a potential new client calling in, a new exciting chapter is going to open. It’s fun. Architecture has so many different parts to it. Designing the project is probably 10% of the bigger picture. Dealing with clients, dealing with the city, staff, rules, regulations, codes, making decisions, dealing with contractors (are other responsibilities of being an architect). You are always busy. I’m proud of what we do. It’s personal. This is an urban-scale art form as I see it. I think for any architect their challenge is to be able to do something that benefits the community, that benefits them, benefits the neighborhood and (they can) be proud (of). And I am. I’m proud of my staff, I’m proud of my accomplishments and where we are. I love my job.