Homer Laughlin Building | |
 The building in 2014 | |
  Location of building inLos Angeles County | |
| Location | 317 South Broadway,Los Angeles |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 34°03′03″N118°14′56″W / 34.0509°N 118.2490°W /34.0509; -118.2490 |
| Built | 1897, 1905 |
| Built by | Smith & Carr |
| Architect | John B. Parkinson (1897) Thornton Fitzhugh orHarrison Albright (1905 addition) |
| Part of | Broadway Theater and Commercial District (ID79000484) |
| LAHCM No. | 1183 |
| Significant dates | |
| Designated CP | May 9, 1979[2] |
| Designated LAHCM | July 2, 2019[1] |
TheHomer Laughlin Building, at 317 South Broadway indowntown Los Angeles, is a landmark building best known for its ground floor tenant theGrand Central Market, the city's largest and oldestpublic market.[3]
Built by retired Ohio entrepreneurHomer Laughlin (founder of the Homer Laughlin China Company), the Homer Laughlin Building was Los Angeles's first fireproofed, steel-reinforced structure. The original six-story building was designed in 1896 by architectJohn B. Parkinson.[4] Smith & Carr were the building contractors.[5] In August 1898Coulter's Dry Goods (later department store) opened here.[6][7]
In 1905, the structure was expanded through to Hill Street, called either the Laughlin Annex or the Lyon Building. This addition, the firstreinforced concrete building in Los Angeles,[8] was designed by eitherHarrison Albright[8] orThornton Fitzhugh.[2] The first post-expansion tenant was theVille de Paris department store, replaced in 1917 by the Grand Central Market, which still occupies the ground floor of the building. The location was chosen because of its proximity to theAngels Flight Railway allowing for easy access to the well-to-do citizens of Bunker Hill.
In the 1920s the building served as an office for the American architectFrank Lloyd Wright.[9]
The original building was built in theBeaux Arts style, but subsequent modifications drastically changed its appearance including the addition of a tile façade in the 1960s which hid the second-story windows. Along with the adjacentMillion Dollar Theater Building and theBradbury Building, the Homer Laughlin Building and the Grand Central Market underwent a major renovation in the 1990s under the direction of developerIra Yellin and architectBrenda Levin. As part of the rehabilitation residential units were added, creating downtown Los Angeles's first true mixed-use developments in decades.[10]
In 2013, under the leadership of Ira Yellin's widow, Adele Yellin, the Market began welcoming a new wave of vendors who are transforming the nearly century-old food arcade into a major culinary destination.[11] The ongoing revitalization of the iconic food arcade has garnered numerous media accolades including being named one of the “Hot 10” restaurants nationwide byBon Appetit magazine in 2014.[12][13]
In 1979, Los Angeles'sBroadway Theater and Commercial District was added to theNational Register of Historic Places, with Grand Central Market listed as acontributing property in the district.[2] In 2019, the building was designatedLos Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #1183.[1]
