A six-story, combo commercial and apartment complex with two towers and a shared courtyard is planned for a 1.6-acre lot at 83 N. Lake Ave. following approval from the Pasadena Planning Commission on Wednesday night.

On the first floor of the eastern tower, which would be directly on Lake Avenue, the development is slated to have about 10,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, according to a staff report. The five floors above are expected to have more than 100,000 square feet of office space.

Meanwhile, the western tower would have a residential lobby on the ground floor with 54 apartment units on the floors above. For residents, there will be an outdoor pool and pool house on the Hudson Avenue side of the property.

The site is currently home to three detached buildings with restaurants, a dentist’s office, dry cleaners and other businesses. All of these buildings will be demolished under the new plan.

The developer, Pasadena-based Singpoli BD Development LLC, opted to pay a fee to the city instead of including affordable housing within the project, according to staff.

That option, which is always available to developers, is known as an “in lieu fee,” and some members of the Planning Commission bemoaned the project’s timing. If it had been approved later in the year, a newly proposed city law, expected to double developers’ lieu fees, could have meant additional revenue for the city’s affordable housing efforts.

The project was among the first commercial buildings to come before the Planning Commission in some time, Planning Director David Reyes said, citing a recent slowdown in activity within Pasadena.

There was a contingent of public concern about the project’s construction from Just Float, a nearby business which provides therapeutic sensory deprivation tanks. The company’s owners, as well as a member of its executive team and a client, showed up to voice concerns about excessive noise or vibration that could ruin customers’ experience and severely impact their business.

To address their concerns, the developer agreed to limit demolition and excavation to Mondays and any other day before 9 a.m. when the business would open.