Downtown Pasadena’s office scene just got a shakeup. East West Bank has bought Western Asset Plaza, the five-story office building that anchors Colorado Boulevard in the city’s core, in a deal that closed in February. The purchase gives the fast-growing bank additional contiguous office space near Paseo Colorado and Pasadena City Hall as it builds out its local headquarters, and it also marks yet another ownership change for a property that has sat in The Irvine Company’s portfolio for more than a decade.
According to CoStar, East West Bank acquired Western Asset Plaza from The Irvine Co., and the outlet reports that the purchase is expected to support the bank’s continued expansion of its Pasadena headquarters. CoStar noted the transaction in a March 12, 2026, item.
Western Asset Plaza, by the numbers
The office at 385 E. Colorado Blvd. totals roughly 270,000 square feet and sits directly across from Paseo Colorado, according to commercial listings. LoopNet also highlights terraces, tech-enabled meeting rooms, and three levels of subterranean parking, and lists Western Asset Management as a major tenant in the building.
Irvine Co.'s ownership and upgrades
The Irvine Company picked up the property in 2012, according to reporting at the time by the Los Angeles Business Journal. A current property brochure from The Irvine Company outlines reinvestments in the lobby and outdoor areas at the site, underscoring that the tower has received recent upgrades under its now-former owner. Irvine Company
East West's Pasadena base
East West already identifies its corporate headquarters at 135 N. Los Robles Ave. in Pasadena, and the bank’s investor materials and releases show that it has posted continued growth in recent years. Those documents list the Pasadena address and detail the bank’s recent performance and filings. East West Bank and East West investor releases
What the deal suggests
Industry coverage presents the sale as one more data point in a broader reshuffling of institutional office holdings across Southern California; CoStar notes that it follows a series of portfolio moves by large landlords. For Pasadena, a locally based bank choosing to add more downtown office space reads as a vote of confidence in the civic-center office market and hints that more headcount could remain anchored in the city rather than drifting elsewhere.
What to watch next
One key question is whether East West will ultimately consolidate more of its workforce into the Colorado Boulevard property or opt to lease a portion of the building to outside tenants. Observers will also be watching to see whether The Irvine Co. or other institutional owners continue to sell assets as Southern California’s office market keeps resetting and repricing.
