Times Mirror Square is a complex of buildings on the block bounded by Spring, Broadway,

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and Second streets in the Civic Center district of Downtown Los Angeles. It was headquarters of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' until 2018. It is currently vacant, with plans being proposed regarding how to best utilize the existing buildings and the total ground area of the site.

Components

Times Mirror Square includes: #The Los Angeles Times Building (or "Kaufmann Building") at the southwest corner of First and Spring Streets, opened in 1935. It was built as the headquarters of the ''

'' and was designed in Art Deco style by

Gordon B. Kaufmann Gordon Bernie Kaufmann (19 March 1888 – 1 March 1949) was an English-born American architect mostly known for his work on the Hoover Dam. Early life On 19 March 1888, Kaufmann was born in Forest Hill, London, England. Education ...

. The building won a gold medal at the 1937 Paris Exposition.

Harry Chandler Harry Chandler (May 17, 1864 – September 23, 1944) was an American newspaper publisher and investor who became owner of the largest real estate empire in the U.S. Early life Harry Chandler was born in Landaff, New Hampshire, the eldest of four ...

, then the president and general manager of Times-Mirror Co., at its opening, declared the building a "monument to the progress of our city and Southern California". #The ten-story 1948 Mirror Building or Crawford Addition at the northwest corner of Second and Spring, designed by

Rowland Crawford Rowland Henry Crawford (1902–1973) was an American architect and artist. Most of his buildings are located in the Los Angeles metro area. Biography Rowland Crawford was born October 28, 1902, in Deadwood, South Dakota. He attended the Universit ...

Site of the 1880s

Nadeau Hotel The late-Victorian-era Downtown of Los Angeles grew year by year, around 1880 centered at the southern end of the Los Angeles Plaza area, and over the next two decades, extending south and west along Main Street, Spring Street, and Broadway t ...

and adjacent to its west, a building used as City Hall from 1884 to 1888. #The 1973 Pereira Addition, a six-story glass and steel structure on the southeast corner of First and Broadway, which was inaugurated as the headquarters of the Times Mirror Company. The

International-style International style may refer to: * International Style (architecture), the early 20th century modern movement in architecture *International style (art), the International Gothic style in medieval art *International Style (dancing), a term used in ...

wing designed by

William Pereira William Leonard Pereira (April 25, 1909 – November 13, 1985) was an American architect from Chicago, Illinois, who was noted for his futuristic designs of landmark buildings such as the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco. Remarkably pr ...

"recapitulates the geometric order and monumentality of the Kaufmann structure", according to the Los Angeles Conservancy. #A parking garage at the northeast corner of Second and Broadway The parking garage at 213 S. Spring, stretching from the west side of Spring to the east side of Broadway between 2nd and 3rd streets, is sometimes referred to as the "Los Angeles Times Parking Garage", but is not actually part of Times Mirror Square. On both sides there are relief sculptures by Tony Sheets, ''Evolution of Printing'' and ''Evolution of Los Angeles'', respectively, created in 1988–1989.

Gallery

1948 Crawford Mirror Addition at the SE corner of Times Mirror Square, NW corner 2nd and Spring.jpg, File:Los Angeles Times building perspective side view.jpg, 1973 Pereira Addition at the NW of the complex, SE corner 1st and Broadway File:Los Angeles Times parking garage.jpg, Relief sculpture ''Evolution of Printing'' by Tony Sheets on the Los Angeles Times parking garage at 213 S. Spring St., adjacent to Times Mirror Square on the south.

History

Times Mirror Square is located on a major portion of what was in the 1880s and 1890s, the central business district of Los Angeles. On April 13, 2018, LA Times employees were notified that ownership was unable to reach a new lease agreement to remain in the Times Building. The staff of about 800 employees would relocate to a new campus under construction in suburban El Segundo, to the southwest when the lease at the Times Building expired on July 31, 2018.

Onni Group Onni Group is primarily a real estate development company, headquartered in Vancouver. The company has built a variety of residential, commercial, and rental projects across Canada and the United States for various uses. The company started inves ...

, a Canadian developer which became the owner after Tribune Publishing lost control of its real estate in bankruptcy reorganization, reportedly wanted to increase the monthly lease by $1 million. The new Times owner

Patrick Soon-Shiong Patrick Soon-Shiong (born July 29, 1952) is a Chinese-South African transplant surgeon, billionaire businessman, bioscientist, and media proprietor. He is the inventor of the drug Abraxane, which became known for its efficacy against lung, bre ...

moved the paper to a building he owned in El Segundo, leaving the building empty. The vacant building is currently underused, with vacant space being used for movie shoots, earning the company as much as $4 million one year. The original building, despite its historic and architecturally significance, is not listed as a historical landmark. It is not in the listings of

Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments are sites which have been designated by the Los Angeles, California, Cultural Heritage Commission as worthy of preservation based on architectural, historic and cultural criteria. History The Historic-Cult ...

California Historical Landmarks A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meeting at least one of ...

, or U.S. Registered Historic Landmarks in Los Angeles. Omni has planned to redevelop the site.

Redevelopment

The

, a real estate development company, has proposed to expand and renovate the adjacent 1973 Times Mirror complex with residential units and retail. Two residential towers were proposed, a 37-story tower rising 365 feet. A taller 53 story building rising 655 feet. They will include 1,100 apartments with 24 moderate-income units and 10 low-income units. The design emphasis walkability and retail around the Civic Center area of DTLA. The new underground Historic Broadway light rail station will open on the 2nd Street side of the building when construction of the

Regional Connector Transit Corridor In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

is completed in 2022. City Hall approved tearing down all the additions to the original 1937 building, including the Pereira additions, to make way for the proposed addition towers to be completed in 2023. LA TIMES lobby - Michele Castagnetti

References

External links