DT News

Broadway Art Deco Building to Be Revived

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES – For all of Broadway’s revived theaters, new retail and dining options and streetcar talk, there’s still an array of empty, aged buildings awaiting infusions of money and elbow grease.

One more building, at least, will see a restoration. Beverly Hills-based developer King’s Arch has purchased a six-story structure at 537 S. Broadway. It plans to transform the 1930s Art Deco-style building, which has been vacant for years, into creative office space.

“We want to return it to an art piece rather than a sore thumb on the street,” said Richard Shamooilian, a partner at King’s Arch. “We want to help make Broadway walkable and vibrant rather than shuttered. All you used to see is just property owners who didn’t care. We consider ourselves part of a new breed of ownership.”

King’s Arch spent $7.35 million to acquire the building from Begonia Development. It plans to spend up to $5 million to restore and upgrade the roughly 45,000-square-foot edifice, with an eye toward attracting tech, fashion and media tenants. King’s Arch plans to complete construction by the end of the year.

The 1931 building was designed by architects Percy A. Eisen and Albert R. Walker, whose Downtown Los Angeles credits include the Fine Arts Building and the James Oviatt Building. It originally housed an outpost of the household goods business F&W Grand Silver Stores. In the middle of the century it held a Hartfield’s Department Store. More recently, the structure served as an office building.

Today, glimmers of its luxurious Art Deco styling distinguish it from others on the block. The building’s facade features intricate gold inlay work that fills the spaces between its windows. That will be cleaned and restored, Shamooilian said.

The developer is undertaking a full seismic retrofit on the structure, something that wasn’t required by the city but will give “peace of mind” to future tenants, Shamooilian said. New plumbing and electrical systems are being installed, as is fiber optic cabling. There will be outdoor decks on the fourth, fifth and sixth floors. The concrete floors are being polished and the walls are being stripped to the original brick.

The work has already yielded a happy discovery: After chipping away interior plaster, the developer found original painted signage on a few walls. Creative office tenants appreciate those character touches, said King’s Arch partner (and Richard’s brother) Allen Shamooilian.

“A 60-story office tower doesn’t offer the historic feel and funk that a building like this does,” he said. “You have 14-foot ceilings on most floors — you don’t find those in office towers. A creative feel is needed to bring these tenants in.”

The renovation of the building follows a handful of conversions of other Broadway structures into creative office space. The 1928 Schulte United Department Store building at 529 S. Broadway was rehabbed and reborn last September as the Broadway Arts Tower. Developer and architect David L. Gray is spending $8.5 million to renovate the six-story edifice at 353 S. Broadway.

Richard Shamooilian, a New York City native, compared Broadway to “Times Square 20 years ago.” As he put it, there are plenty of diamonds in the rough on the street. They just need the right team to apply the polish.