Downtown boom is not all lofts

The new Caltrans office building going up in the downtown Civic Center "owes its existence to earthquakes, union muscle and a tincture of politics," writes Chip Jacobs in the Pasadena Weekly. The $191 million home for Caltrans engineers and executives is under construction at a time when no freeways are being built, the state faces a budget deficit and vacant office space abounds downtown. The new tower itself will have so much unneeded space that three of the 13 floors are to be leased out to other tenants.