The Freehand Los Angeles Hotel, formerly the Commercial Exchange Building, is a historic structure in
Los Angeles, California, United States.
Location
The building is located on the corner of
Olive Street and
8th Street in
Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) contains the central business district of Los Angeles. In addition, it contains a diverse residential area of some 85,000 people, and covers . A 2013 study found that the district is home to over 500,000 jobs. It is ...
,
California.
History
The 13-story building was completed in 1924. It was designed by the architecture firm of
Walker and Eisen
Walker & Eisen (1919−1941) was an architectural partnership of architects Albert R. Walker and Percy A. Eisen in Los Angeles, California.
Partners in addition to Walker and Eisen included: Clifford A. Balch, William Glenn Balch, and Burt W ...
. The building has the distinction of having been vertically split to permit widening of Olive Street. The building's exterior also holds one of the tallest
neon signs in Los Angeles.
[Vincent, Roger. (January 13, 2013]
''Downtown historic high-rise eyed by hotel developers''
Los Angeles Times
To allow the widening of Olive Street in the mid-1930s, a "10-foot slice" was removed from the center of the Commercial Exchange Building and engineers rejoined the remaining halves by sliding the western portion eastward.
Total cost of the removal and realignment was $60,000, the Los Angeles Times reported in 1935.
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best-known for creating the characters Tarzan and John Carter, he ...
operated his publishing company from offices in the Commercial Exchange Building. The structure also once housed the offices of
Owl Drug Company.
In early 2013 the building, which had been vacant for two decades, was put on the market for $14 million.
A year later, in 2014, it was acquired by the
Sydell Group, with financial backing from
AllianceBernstein and
Yucaipa Companies, an investment firm owned by billionaire
Ronald Burkle.
The owners remodeled it into the Freehand Los Angeles Hotel,
which opened in June 2017.
[https://la.curbed.com/2017/6/27/15877284/freehand-hotel-downtown-la-sydell] The building was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places in 2019.
References
External links
Freehand Los Angeles Hotel official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Commercial Exchange Building
Buildings and structures in Downtown Los Angeles
Buildings and structures completed in 1924
1924 establishments in California
1920s architecture in the United States
Skyscraper hotels in Los Angeles
National Register of Historic Places in Los Angeles
Hotels established in 2017
Hotel buildings completed in 1924