Aveson Charter working to bring Pasadena high school program back to Altadena

The sign outside the abandoned commercial development project on the northeast corner of Altadena Drive and Lincoln Avenue reads "Future home of Aveson Charter."

That's certainly what Aveson's director, Kate Bean, hopes will be the case, but she is still working hard to make sure it actually happens.

"It's still our number one choice for a new location," Bean said.

Aveson's Global Leaders Academy (AGLA), a school for children grades 6-12, is currently being at the Boys and Girls club on Fair Oaks Avenue in Pasadena, but needs a campus of its own, she said.

The school originally was located at the campus on Pinecrest Drive, where its K-5 students currently are, but complaints from neighbors about traffic, and heavy use of the campus, resulted in the relocation of the school.

The challenge right now, Bean said, is to reach a deal with the owner of the Altadena and Lincoln property to move the school there.  They have been in discussions for months.

The move would kill two birds with one stone, giving the school a new home, and finding a use for the property on the site.

Right now, it is hosts a single building that is partially constructed, the wood frame still visible, with no doors or windows.

The property's ownership has been a little bit of a mystery.

The owner of the property is listed as E and J Altadena Plaza LLC, and state records associated with that corporation show list Lina Kabayan of Glendale, CA as the corporation's agent.  Attempts to get in touch with her were not successful.

Gino Sund of the Altadena Town Council said he had had discussions about the property in his time at the Land Use Committee, but has never met the owner.

Greg Stanton, a real estate agent who is part of the local neighborhood association in the area said that there was a meeting with the owner of the property at one point, but he believes the woman who participated in those meetings is no longer the owner.

Bean said that Aveson would either become a tenant of the developer or work out a deal where Aveson would put up money towards purchasing an interest in the property.

The goal is to move the school there in fall of 2011, though if a deal happens through, the school could get there by this spring, Bean said.

Aveson's K-5 students will remain on its Pinecrest Campus.

Another option, if the deal falls through, would be for the school to look at any vacant PUSD properties that will be available next fall, Bean said.  The PUSD School Consolidation Committee is recommending the closure of Loma Alta and Jackson elementary schools, so either of those campuses could be a possibility.