Equitable Building of Hollywood | |
 The building in 2014 | |
  Location in United States Show map of the United States | |
| Location | 6253 W. Hollywood Blvd Hollywood, California |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 34°06′07″N118°19′35″W / 34.1020°N 118.3263°W /34.1020; -118.3263 |
| Built | 1929, 1931 |
| Architect | Alex Curlett |
| Architectural style | Gothic Revival,Art Deco |
| Part of | Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District (ID85000704) |
| LAHCM No. | 1088 |
| Significant dates | |
| Designated CP | April 4, 1985[2] |
| Designated LAHCM | May 13, 2015[1] |
Equitable Building of Hollywood, also known as theBank of Hollywood Building andThe Lofts at Hollywood and Vine, is a historic twelve-story former office building, now condominium located at 6253 W.Hollywood Boulevard,Hollywood, California, at the intersection ofHollywood and Vine.
Hollywood's Equitable Building was envisioned as part an infrastructure plan to "metropolitanize" Hollywood as an urban core. It was designed byAlex Curlett in a lateGothic Revival andArt Deco style, and developed byG.R. Dexter, president of the nearbyGuaranty Building, andSamuel Kress. The building was built in two phases; the first was completed in 1929 and created 27,800 sq. ft of office space above ground floor retail, while the second, completed in 1931, more than doubled the size of the building, making it the largest office building in Hollywood.[3]
The building reached full occupancy soon after each construction phase was completed, and almost immediately, it anchoredHollywood and Vine as the epicenter for Hollywood's finance and entertainment industries.Bank of Hollywood moved into the building as soon as phase one construction was completed, and the building was thus named the Bank of Hollywood Building.Myron Selznick's talent agency, the first talent agency in Hollywood, occupied the entire seventh floor, andKenneth P. Butler's Butler Health Institute occupied the twelfth floor, with an additional solarium and squash court on the roof.[3] By 1939, many advertising agencies includingYoung and Rubicam andWilliam Esty and Company occupied the building, and the building was also popular with radio agents and producers throughout the 1930s and 40s.[4][5]
The building's street level was remodeled in the 1950s[2] and in 1969, the building underwent a $1 million ($8.57 million in2024) renovation, after whichnearby Capitol Records occupied 44,500 sq. ft of office space on the third through eighth floors. Despite this, the building, as with the rest of the area, experienced high vagrancy and decline from the 1960s to 1990s.[3]
In 1984, theHollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District was added to theNational Register of Historic Places, with Equitable Building listed as acontributing property in the district.[2]
The building was rehabilitated between 1999 and 2001, one of the first in Hollywood to do so. During the rehabilitation, many of the 1969 modernizations were remediated and the original features reconstructed.[3]
In 2007, the building underwent a $50 million ($75.8 million in2024) condominium conversion, after which the owners renamed it The Lofts at Hollywood and Vine. The building now consists of 60 units.[6]
In 2015, the building was designatedLos Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #1088.[1]
The Equitable Building is areinforced concrete construction, with an exterior finished in paintedcast stone with select elements articulated interra cotta. The first and second stories are rectangular in shape, creating aplinth for the U- shaped upper stories. The roof is flat and made ofasphalt, and a sign is attached to the side of the building, facing north.[3]
The building's lobby is its most ornate interior. Art deco in character, it featuresmarble andstone floor, walls, and elevator surroundings, as well as decorativemouldings,vault ceiling, and an entrance vestibule distinguished bypilasters. Four elevator bays are located in the lobby, each withbronze paneled doors.[3]
According to theLos AngelesDepartment of City Planning, the Equitable Building "exhibits many character-defining features of theLate Gothic Revival andArt Deco styles, including:
The building's eastern-facing exterior is mostly blank because of plans for a ten-story office building atop the neighboringHollywood Pantages Theatre, which would have blocked any windows placed here. The ten story office building, however, was never built.[5]
