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Alteration

Architect Eve Steele and a group of investors bought the two-story dairy processing plant in Downtown Los Angeles c. 1983, and converted it into 14 residential lofts and 2 commercial spaces, all for about $10 per square foot. According to a New York Times article of 1984, Steele and her investors removed all walls and machinery from the interior, sandblasted the concrete walls, rebuilt new interior partitions and replaced all windows. This building, reflected a new interest in moving back into Los Angeles's neglected and sprawling Downtown in the 1980s. Slesin wrote: "One factor contributing to the changes in the area is the growing awareness of its ethnic and architectural heritages. These include the Bradbury Building, with its extraordinary turn-of-the-century atrium, and the 1928 Oviatt Building, which was restored in 1981. And since January, the Temporary Contemporary at 152 North Central Avenue--the enormous, energetic high-tech warehouse and gallery spaces of the Museum of Contemporary Art, which were remodeled by the architect Frank Gehry--has encouraged a wider range of sophisiticated Angelenos to venture downtown." (See Suzanne Slesin, "Downtown Los Angeles: the New Settlers," New York Times, 04/12/1984, p. C1.) By this time, historic preservation work resulting in the placement of various downtown buildings on the National Historic Register and Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments list had made them well-known.

PCAD id: 18697