The 1973 building, designed by L.A. architect William Pereira, is part of the Times Mirror Square in L.A. that Canadian real estate development company Onni is looking to redevelop.Philip Cheung/Globe and Mail
An unloved building in downtown Los Angeles likely faces the wrecking ball after Vancouver real estate developer Onni Group of Companies Ltd. secured a key victory at a Los Angeles city council committee.
Onni two years ago paid US$105-million for the former home of the L.A. Times, known as Times Mirror Square. The full-block site includes three major buildings: one from 1935, one from 1948 and one from 1973. Onni last year applied to the city to restore the two older buildings and renovate them for modern offices and retail. It also wants to demolish the 1973 building and a parking garage to build two luxury apartment towers of more than 1,100 units.
The 1973 building, designed by L.A. architect William Pereira, was once voted the second-ugliest in the city. It has now become an unlikely icon in an architectural preservation debate.
Local activists filed a proposal in the summer to gain heritage status for all three buildings. The City’s Cultural Heritage Commission endorsed the plan in September.
But the bigger test, for the preservationists and Onni, was at City Hall, where the proposal required the approval of the council’s powerful planning and land-use management committee. On Tuesday, the committee made an unusual move: It divided the application for heritage status. Onni was granted permission to demolish the 1973 building and, separately, to renovate the older buildings. A final decision will be made at city council in mid-December. The committee’s decision is likely to be endorsed.
It is a big win for Onni, on its largest project yet in L.A. The developer, whose roots stretch back to the mid-1960s in Vancouver, first invested in downtown L.A. in 2011 and has since ridden the downtown development boom. Onni has invested more than US$1-billion in the city, with a focus on residential development, but it has also amassed a portfolio of office buildings.
Onni opened the first tower it built downtown in 2016 and is finishing construction on three more luxury apartment buildings. The company, now the most active developer in downtown L.A., has garnered a reputation for getting things built in a city whose development processes are often a challenge.
Onni spokesman Duncan Wlodarczak said the developer is excited to restore the old L.A. Times buildings and include them in a new mixed-use development that will connect with two civic projects underway nearby, a park and a metro station. Onni will work with its architect, the city, and others “to ensure the historic fabric is handled with the utmost of care” Mr. Wlodarczak said.
Aside from the heritage-status process, Onni’s development proposal at Times Mirror Square, filed in mid-2017, has been under consideration by the city’s planning department and an interim response is expected soon. Onni had aimed to start construction next year and open the 37- and 53-storey towers in 2023.
At the committee meeting on Tuesday, construction union leaders spoke in favour of Onni’s development and against the heritage status for the 1973 Pereira building. Councilman and committee member Gil Cedillo said L.A. needs more housing. He said he supported the union workers in building Onni’s towers and called himself “pro-development.”
Downtown L.A.’s
past and future
Vancouver developer Onni Group plans to preserve part of Times Mirror Square in L.A. but wants to build two luxury apartment towers. Local preservationists are fighting back.
The 1935 building
The iconic Art Deco former home of the L.A. Times, clad in Indiana limestone.
The 1948 building
An architectural cousin of the 1935 building, erected to house the L.A. Mirror, an afternoon tabloid.
The 1973 building
Starkly different from its forebears and not widely appreciated. Onni has proposed to tear it down.
S. HILL STREET
DOWNTOWN
LOS ANGELES
Building to be
torn down
(1973)
W. 1ST ST.
L.A. Times
building
(1935)
S. BROADWAY
S. SPRING STREET
Parking
garage
L.A.
Police
HQ
S. MAIN STREET
Mirror
building
(1948)
E. 2ND ST.
0
100
METRES
CALIFORNIA
Burbank
Topanga
State Park
DETAIL
10
Santa
Monica
Los Angeles
110
Pacific Ocean
Torrance
0
15
KM
DAVID EBNER AND JOHN SOPINSKI/THE GLOBE AND MAIL
SOURCE: TILEZEN; OPENSTREETMAP CONTRIBUTORS; HIU
Downtown L.A.’s past and future
Vancouver developer Onni Group plans to preserve part of Times Mirror Square in L.A. but wants to build two luxury apartment towers.
Local preservationists are fighting back.
The 1935 building
The iconic Art Deco former home of the L.A. Times, clad in Indiana limestone.
The 1948 building
An architectural cousin of the 1935 building, erected to house the L.A. Mirror, an afternoon tabloid.
The 1973 building
Starkly different from its forebears and not widely appreciated. Onni has proposed to tear it down.
S. HILL STREET
DOWNTOWN
LOS ANGELES
Building to be
torn down
(1973)
W. 1ST ST.
L.A. Times
building
(1935)
S. BROADWAY
S. SPRING STREET
Parking
garage
L.A.
Police
HQ
S. MAIN STREET
Mirror
building
(1948)
E. 2ND ST.
0
100
METRES
CALIFORNIA
Burbank
Topanga
State Park
DETAIL
10
Santa
Monica
Los Angeles
110
Pacific Ocean
Torrance
0
15
KM
DAVID EBNER AND JOHN SOPINSKI/THE GLOBE AND MAIL
SOURCE: TILEZEN; OPENSTREETMAP CONTRIBUTORS; HIU
Downtown L.A.’s
past and future
Vancouver developer Onni Group plans to preserve part of Times Mirror Square in L.A. but wants to build two luxury apartment towers. Local preservationists are fighting back.
The 1935 building
The iconic Art Deco former home of the L.A. Times, clad in Indiana limestone.
The 1948 building
An architectural cousin of the 1935 building, erected to house the L.A. Mirror, an afternoon tabloid.
The 1973 building
Starkly different from its forebears and not widely appreciated. Onni has proposed to tear it down.
S. OLIVE STREET
S. HILL STREET
Building to be
torn down
(1973)
Los Angeles
City Hall
S. BROADWAY
Vancouver-based Onni
Group has plans to
develop a block in
downtown Los Angeles,
site of the historic L.A.
Times building
L.A. Times
building
(1935)
S. SPRING STREET
Parking
garage
E. 1ST STREET
Los Angeles
Police HQ
S. MAIN STREET
S. LOS ANGEL. ST.
Mirror
building
(1948)
CALIFORNIA
Burbank
E. 2ND STREET
Topanga
State Park
DETAIL
10
Santa
Monica
Los Angeles
DOWNTOWN
LOS ANGELES
110
Pacific Ocean
Torrance
0
15
0
100
KM
METRES
DAVID EBNER AND JOHN SOPINSKI/THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: TILEZEN;
OPENSTREETMAP CONTRIBUTORS; HIU