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u/quadropheniac 14h ago
Still the best maintained property owned by AHF.
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u/LALawette 10h ago
Bhajahhahahaj! So true. You know I was at AHF’s Madison Hotel a few months ago and their fire extinguishers in the hallways hadn’t been checked in three years.
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u/BackgroundBit8 Highland Park 16h ago
Los Angeles Historical Society: It's only slightly charred. You can't tear it down It's a historical landmark!
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u/kegman83 Downtown 15h ago
Yeah get used to this charred out husk of a building standing unused for decades. Its not like this city needs housing, or hotels, or just a functional building of any kind.
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u/turb0_encapsulator 15h ago
We can’t let this become a hotel or luxury housing for the rich! Not right near the convention center! Not all that tax revenue! We need more unremarkable, derelict, boarded up buildings!
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u/BreadForTofuCheese 14h ago
Man I wish I weren’t so pessimistic about this, but I honestly think they are gonna let this prime location just rot for years. Good thing it has some massive rotting towers beside it to take all the attention.
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u/turb0_encapsulator 13h ago
take a look at the corner of Broadway and 4th. That building should have been eminent-domained a decade ago.
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u/ChumbleBumbler 1h ago
But someone quasi famous once farted near that building, that makes it historical!
Esotouric can jump up their own ass.
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u/mr211s Koreatown 12h ago
Sounds like what that Esoteric account would say.
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u/quadropheniac 12h ago
Fun fact, they were there cheerleading when AHF stalled the redevelopment of the building in court long enough to force a sale to them, only to promptly do precisely fuck-all because neither AHF nor Esotouric has any interest in actually providing housing to the greater LA area.
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u/mr211s Koreatown 11h ago
Both AHF and Esotourric are NIMBYs in sheep's skin
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u/quadropheniac 11h ago
They're not in sheep's skin in the slightest, they are out and proud NIMBYs.
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u/Tighten_Up Chinatown 15h ago
Another boarded up multi-story building in downtown. Add it to the list!
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u/Krispy_H0p3 16h ago
Alright let's get a foreign billionaire to build another luxury apartment building there.
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u/Unusual-Shock-493 15h ago
Would they be required to finish the project?
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u/kegman83 Downtown 15h ago
Probably. But the LA Historical Society, local government groups, LA County and LA City will make any sort of renovation unfeasible.
The previous owners gutted the entire property, removing all the original doors, windows and walls. Even when it was intact, none of it was habitable due to health and safety issues. Everything that would make it a historic landmark are gone, and labeling it as such after the fact just dooms the building to being empty forever.
You can read about the drama here. There has been a VERY cozy relationship between the former owners and LA City Council.
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u/TheTonyExpress 11h ago
Siri, show me a picture of insurance fraud
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u/2fast2nick Downtown 11h ago
lol I like insurance fraud is your first thought. Not the 100 homeless people in there with camp stoves.. but yeah, believe what you want
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u/da_muffinman 15h ago
What was the cause
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u/2fast2nick Downtown 15h ago
I think it takes arson investigators more than 12 hours to figure out.. but my guess, it was full of homeless people, building has no utilities, it’s been freezing cold. Soo
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u/HereForTheZipline_ 14h ago
Wait it was already just sitting empty? Like do you mean it was full of homeless people just because it was basically abandoned, or that the city was using it as temporary housing
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u/2fast2nick Downtown 14h ago
They busted open the boarding and went in. Not housing.
They’re out there welding a new gate now
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u/programaticallycat5e 14h ago
unrelated, but are fire sprinklers not passive systems?
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u/2fast2nick Downtown 14h ago
It’s a 100 year old abandoned building with no utilities. What sprinklers?
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u/uiuctodd 11h ago
Sprinklers laws for commercial buildings were just becoming a thing in the 1960s when this place was already the run-down SRO shown on the Doors album.
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u/2fast2nick Downtown 11h ago
I can guarantee you they have not retrofitted every building since the 1960's. Also, I don't know what the rule is, but if you don't pay utilities anymore, is your fire sprinklers still charged? I don't know if that is part of water or what.
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u/OkBubbyBaka The San Fernando Valley 13h ago
Time to build a skyscraper