THE CONTINENTAL HOTEL

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

The Continental Building is a historic piece of Los Angeles located in one of Downtown’s trendiest new neighborhoods, ripe for redevelopment into a lifestyle, boutique hotel. The Property, built in 1904, was designed by Jon Parkinson, the prominent and highly acclaimed architect whose other works include many of Los Angeles’ landmarks such as Downtown Union Station, Los Angeles City Hall, and the LA Memorial Coliseum. The Continental Building was the city’s first high rise and fully expressed Beaux Arts style building in Los Angeles, with a façade distinguished by rich ornaments of terra cotta, striking cornice bends, pediments, and lion heads. Delivered shortly before the city enacted a height restriction in 1905, the Property was the tallest building in Los Angeles until the 1960s with the only exception being City Hall. 

Originally constructed as bank and office building, the Continental Building housed many financial institutions throughout the early 20th century when Spring Street was commonly referred to as the “Wall Street of the West.” In 2001, the Continental was redeveloped by Tom Gilmore into a 56 loft-style apartment building as part of the Old Bank District residential conversion project.

Rockefeller Kempel Architects is leading an extensive renovation of the current loft-apartment building. We’re reconfiguring the typical floor plan to optimize room layout and by doing so, revitalizing the historic layout of the building which allows us to express the irreplaceable historic tile throughout the corridors. We’re introducing new programmatic elements that will help bring the public into the building, and give the building a new meaning that is better suited for today’s urban context.