Sunday, May 11, 2008

Now You See It...










There's no sign on the building on the left. From the front, it looks like a school. There's some graffiti, not much. It's abandoned.

Across the parking lot a mirrored building reflects the school-type building. The mirrored building seems to be closed as well. The sign out front says "Nanostream." A web announcement says Nanostream ceased operations March 14th, 2008. I don't know why. They specialized in a chemical process called chromatography. (Chromawhat? Yeah, me too.) It has to do with the separation of chemicals, and in Nanostream's case that was pharmaceutical drugs. You could try the Wikipedia article. It's a start.

Like any other American town, we have more closed businesses these days than we used to.

11 comments:

Jim Klenke said...

Great pictures, love the reflection. A lot of the buildings I photograph on our main drag are empty. I think big box has taken most of the business.

Anonymous said...

This building has been abandoned for quite some time. This isn't anything new.

In spite of what most people might think or assume - Pasadena office space occupancy is very, very high.

For businesses looking for office space, Pasadena remains a difficult location. Vacancy rates continue to hold at less than 4%.

Earthlink used to be in it years ago as well.

I don't see any connection to what "big box" has to do with Chromatography and pharmaceutical drug manufacturers?

Isaac

John Sandel said...

Isaac, I think Jim was talking about retail turnover where he lives. 'Sfar's I know, gas chromatography hasn't reached the storefronts yet, but you can get your DNA "sequenced" & scanned for disease markers at a boutique in LA. Interestinger & interestinger.

Love the enantiomeric photos, BTW; interesting bichirality.

Petrea Burchard said...

Thanks, Jim. I wonder if it's that simple?

Hi Isaac: Correct, the pictured building's been abandoned for some time. I also referred to Nanostream, the business next door, which closed on March 14th of this year.

As for closed business, I made an assumption based on a gut reaction, but probably didn't make myself clear: I wasn't thinking so much about office space but about businesses in general. Your news is good news! Can you refer us to online stats?

Yeah, Bernie, I don't think Jim was making that connection, either. Um...gotta get my dictionary...nope... Must do further research to grok you. But that's part of your charm.

Anonymous said...

My point of reference for the stats are from multiple office space brokers (commercial). I've been speaking to many over the past few years (months) as I'm scouting for new space myself.

Consistent word of mouth is that Pasadena vacancy is below 4% and has been so for the past 5 years.

BernieMan said...

BTW, Central Desktop rocks.

Petrea Burchard said...

Isaac, I'd say when you're getting that kind of consistent information from real estate brokers it's as good as gold. Best of luck finding a great space.

Bernieman's right (is that you, Bernie K?)--Central Desktop rocks. I feel like I've been visited by a celebrity.

John Sandel said...

Oops. yes.

Anonymous said...

HeHe . . .

Nanostream was a company that specialized in microfluidics more than chromatograpy. Microfluidics are small "etched" glass or plastic chips that can mix chemicals or detect pathogens (virus, etc). The CEO was SUPPOSEDLY a genius already starting and selling one company for millions (Micro Sensor in Pasadena) to Motorola. He was a know-it-all jerk. Im glad their closed. Hopefully, they auction of their expensive equipement so that the company I work for can buy some.

- Laughing Biomedical Engineer

Petrea Burchard said...

Veeeeery interesting, Anonymous. I couldn't find much on line. Found Pasadena Micro Sensor at a couple of different addresses. I'm just taking your word for it and glad you're laughing!

Anonymous said...

The main Nanostream webpage links only to the closure announcement, but you can still link to additional information if you go direct. For example, start at http://www.nanostream.com/company/index.html

The CEO had been a co-founder of Clinical Micro Sensors, which was first bought by Motorola and later by Osmetech. That organization is still going strong. See http://www.osmetech.com/