About

The Louis B. Mayer Building, now called the Hollywood & Western Building. (Includes 5500-5502-5504-5506-5508-5510 W. Hollywood Boulevard  (includes 1675-1677-1679-1681-1683 N. Western Avenue) 90027) 

Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument (HCM #336) on January 1, 1988. Listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2015.

The four-story Art Deco building has office and commercial space.  Affordable housing was added on the upper floors in 2022 (see below).

Architect: S. Charles Lee. The building was built by Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalbert and opened on December 8, 1928. It was the first location for Motion Picture Association of America, Central Casting, the Hays Office and The Ben Hecht Company. Hollywood Billiards, Hollywood’s oldest pool hall, was located in the lower basement of the building. The building was heavily damaged in the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, and was subsequently renovated.  The building was used in the films Double Indemnity, Ruthless People, and Hollywood Shuffle, and was a regular shooting location for numerous TV productions. It was also used as a rehearsal studio for such bands as Guns N’ Roses and White Zombie.  (Source:  Wikipedia)

Tenants in the 2010s included the local offices of then Los Angeles City Councilman Eric Garcetti, U.S. Congressman Adam Schiff and City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell.  

In 2022, Los Angeles City Planning Architect Lambert Giessinger of the Office of Historic Resources spoke at a groundbreaking ceremony for the building’s adaptive reuse affordable housing project.  The plan will convert 48,000 square feet of office space on the upper floors into 70 income-restricted apartments while retaining approximately 10,000 square feet of existing street-level retail space. “This project is an excellent example of how City Planning helps preserve historic resources while encouraging affordable housing,” said Giessinger. (Source: Planning4LA, July 4, 2022)